Vengeful
by Malicious Words and Happiness
Summary: If a new God is born into the Sohma family, a new Zodiac will be born as well. The next generation of the Sohma curse has begun. But this time...things aren't quite right. Sequel to Deathwish.
1. Prologue

The final ringing of the bells brought nor hopes nor despairs

The final ringing of the bells brought nor hopes nor despairs. We were perfect, immaculate, living in this false façade of a world, a universe, yet to be understood by those outside of us. There were only two worlds—them and us. We did not know them we paid them no attention. They were of no usefulness to us.

It was the summer of fortune, and at the same time the winter of unforgiving cruelties lashing out like every strike of the whip, equivalent to the crashing of lightning somewhere above our heads. It was uncontrollable pandemonium, and we could not stop it from anything it had intended to do, for we knew not what it was in the first place. We were given orders and we stupidly obeyed, we did not forgive and we did not forget. We molded into a single mind, soul, when once we were many.

We were connected.

And all good things can never last, however we clung to our last hopes as they filled us, thrilled us, and frightened us more than any human ever could. We wanted to leave and run as far away as our legs could stand to carry us, and yet at the same time we wanted to remain planted exactly where we stood, let the world revolve around us and remain that way, perfectly immaculate and isolated, for evermore.

We wanted to live a life free from sin, cleansed with the holiest of liquids, while at the same time we wanted to live a life drenched in blood.

We needed the addiction that it gave us, forgetting all in its path in order to murder or to salvage. We needed to create something.

We needed to create something beautiful that could not exist without our presence. We needed it more than anything.

Yet it still remained out of our reach.

The stakes were high, yet we were willing to bet. We needed something to rely on, something that would never waver and let us fall. Whether we were conscious of it or not, we were entirely broken. Shattered. It was the way that things were.

We rejected the world and protected ourselves, whether it was consciously or subconsciously, instinct or intention. We were prepared only by knowledge of what had previously happened in worlds other than our own, decades, centuries, and entire generations that were in the past that we are instructed to remember and keep in mind as though we were there. One particular girl stood out in the previous world. She, an outsider, had managed to penetrate our strong walls that we built to keep others out and instead protect ourselves.

We gained the impression that if we could do it once, we could certainly do it again. And soon enough, we were given that chance.

We had waited far too long.

And as nightfall swept across the horizon in black-tinted gradients, dying the clouds as though they were spilled with ink, I ran for my life, to protect myself, to get away, and to merely survive. I knew not what I was supposed to do, or who I was. I only had to get away. I decided to sleep until the peace came, until the time for waking was bestowed upon me.

I woke up exactly twenty-seven years later.

You do not know who I am.


	2. Chapter 1

A/N: This story is written in English, yet it uses quite a few words from the Japanese language.

-Chan: a Japanese suffix, added onto the names of friends, pets, etc. Usually for someone or something cute, usually for a girl yet can be used for guys.

-San: The basic suffix added onto names, indicates some respect.

-Sama: Another suffix, indicating that said person has higher values than your own or is overall on a higher rank than you.

Kieuseru: disappear, get out of sight, die.

Do shita no: what's wrong

Neko: cat

Koneko: Kitten (technically translates into 'cat child')

Betsuni: nothing

Okaa-san: mother

Watashi wa: I am

Kiru: to behead, murder, kill

Disclaimer: -Insert witty, comical, I-don't-own-Fruits-Basket statement here- I do not own Fruits Basket. Ta-da.

* * *

The daily routine of the Hirotani household was nonexistent, and if there were to be one it was quite invisible, and well adjusted to have become that way. The simple reason for this lay on the fact that the mother-unit of the house was usually in the kitchen, cutting some sort of edible object (it was usually lettuce or cabbage) with the largest knife or salad fork she could find in the drawer. At random, unpredictable times, she would stab the utensil into the cutting board, panting heavily, and begin throwing all objects within reach at her oldest daughter as she came downstairs to see what the commotion was about, though after this many times she knew quite well. She'd become her mother's toy, stress ball, voodoo dummy if you would.

Naturally, no one knew of the sadistic acts that occurred in the Hirotanis' home. The only available signs would be the bandages that would appear on the strangest places on the daughter's body, for she always greeted people with a pretty-faced smile, well-taken-care of blue-black hair that fell to the middle of her back, and clear ice blue eyes that were always slightly unreadable and mysterious, which would figure, considering her situation.

Hirotani Sen was good at lying, and Hirotani Sen was good at putting up with her mother's sadism.

It was hard to say just how many wounds Hirotani Yume had inflicted on her daughter since her other, oldest daughter had gone into a coma for reasons unknown, one of the most painful being the time that Yume had hidden a few ordinary sewing needles in her daughter's food.

Yume was, to put things literally, slowly going insane. She had been identified as a sadist with growing intensified mental instability, and would often have "black out" periods in which she would desperately try to kill everything in reach, Sen typically being the only thing in reach. Yet once the black out finished, she would return to normal, happy and smiling and able to form coherent sentences without screaming, able to pick up an object without throwing it. But she always asked how Sen had gotten hurt, the same question over and over again. And an answer that didn't sit well with her, or a mumble or grunt in response would send her into another black out.

But Hirotani Sen couldn't live that way.

-

"Sen-chan!" A voice called.

The small, petite girl by the school gate turned around slowly at the recognizable high voice, blue eyes curious as she scanned over the familiar facial features of Hina; round, adorable caramel eyes, pale complexion that would redden instantly at the sight of someone caught staring at her, (Hina was painfully shy), the soft-toned black hue of the hair that fell to her shoulders and bangs that ended evenly at her eyes. She currently wore a meek smile, bag slung somehow delicately over a small shoulder, hand raised in a shy sort of wave.

"Hina-chan," Sen murmured, looking away after having analyzed the short girl before her.

"Sen-chan, your face…" Hina acknowledged, reaching out to touch one of the white, rectangular bandages placed just above Sen's eyebrow. The other girl turned her head to a different direction quickly, denying Hina the action. Hina cocked her head slightly to the side, confused.

"It's nothing," Sen replied in a quiet voice, head lowered so that her bangs covered her eyes. "Nothing to worry yourself over, anyway. Neko-chan did it."

"He seems to scratch you a lot," said Hina thoughtfully as she pressed her fist to her lips, biting her tongue lightly. "Do shita no?"

"Betsuni." Sen turned on her heel to face Hina and flash her a white-toothed smile before sidestepping her and exiting the school gates, running the rest of the way as soon as she was a foot past the gates.

Hina, standing at the gates of the school, watched Sen's retreating form as she slowly began to 'shrink' as the effect of her becoming farther and father away. Hina sighed slowly and closed her eyes, opening them again after a minute and looking down at her shoes. "Do shita no, Sen-chan…"

-

"Okaa-san," Sen greeted tiredly as she hurried placed her shoes in a neat line on the mat, for it had become one of her mother's OCD-like pet peeves, and throwing on her house slippers. (A/N: In Japan, you have to take off your shoes as you enter someone's house.) "Watashi wa…" Her voice trailed off as she peered into the kitchen in time to see her mother plunge the knife into the cutting board angrily with an animalistic snarl, picking up a porcelain plate and hurling it furiously against the kitchen wall.

"KIRU!" Yume screamed throwing more plates and dishes against the wall and letting some clatter to the floor. "KIRU, KIRU, KIRU!"

It wasn't a good choice to speak during a black out.

-

"Sen-chan," Chiyo scolded as she wound the bandage around Sen's arm, the wound itself slightly swollen and stinging in reaction to the sudden, unwanted contact. She grit her teeth, closing her eyes. "I told you to come to me when Okaa-san gets like this."

Sen's eyes flicked open and she found herself in the darkness of her bedroom, moonlight streaming in through the windows and stars dotting across the deep blue sky. She sighed to herself as she realized that it had been a dream, and that she was in her bed supposedly sleeping rather than in Chiyo's bedroom, having bandages wrapped in a motherly way around her wound for her by her older sister. Chiyo was in a Tokyo hospital—unconscious.

Slowly, she urged herself out of bed, and to her closet. She quietly unloaded clothes from her dresser drawers and dug an old school bag out of the depths of her closet, stuffing the clothes into it. Her heart pounded almost audibly at the thought of what she was doing. Around an hour later, she found herself in front of the door, one hand on the handle. Slowly, uncertainly, she turned the handle as quietly as possible and slipped outside.

Hirotani Sen was a runaway.

-

The next morning dawned cold and foggy, the streets crowded with people rushing to get to their jobs and students hurrying to school. She'd found a small alleyway and had stayed there, wearing a heavy coat against the cold night air. Sen walked at a slow, normal pace to school, as though even the way she walked would give her away, considering that she had left home.

Hina waited by the gates for her, also as usual, and waved in the same timid manner as Sen approached her. Hina said close to nothing as they walked to their classroom, considering the awkwardly silent atmosphere and the way that Sen would give a jolt at times and whirl around to face anything that might be behind her. She looked tired, nervous, and terrified about something.

"Sen-chan," Hina murmured finally as they sat down in their usual seats, Sen's desk in front of Hina's. "Do shita no?"

"B-Betsuni." Sen stammered, still in the aftershock of being startled, somehow, by Hina's voice. "Etto…when is sensei one coming?"

(A/N: In Japan the classrooms don't switch, the teachers do.)

Hina frowned slightly before cupping her face in one hand propped up against the desk for support, gazing absentmindedly at the back of Sen's head as she lowered it down onto her desk, closing her eyes tiredly and quickly sitting up and opening them again when sensei came through the classroom door.

It would be another long day if Sen were being irresponsive.

-

Sen bolted from the classroom as the bell rung, running through the hallways at a breakneck speed and ignoring teachers who told her to slow down, students who scoffed and moved to the side as though touching her would burn their skin. She didn't stop running until she reached the alleyway where she had hidden the night before. She stopped, panting, and quickly doubled up after realizing she was catching peoples' attention. She threw on a jacket, pulling the hood low over her head and ducking into the darkness of the alleyway.

It was dark, nighttime, when she started to hear the sounds of someone laughing and speaking to something just outside of the alley. It was a male voice, amused clearly, yet sounded so inhumanely beautiful for even a voice alone that it was hard to imagine its keeper as anything but the same.

She leaned against the cold brick wall behind her; skin tingling with the sudden contact with such a low-temperature object. She peered down the alleyway, trying to attune her eyesight as if to hear whom it was with the beautiful voice. She groped about in the darkness before grabbing a small pocketknife out of her bag, holding it ready in her hands, just incase.

"Why the weapons?" The voice asked, laughing shortly afterward. It was closer, now, maybe a foot and a half way. Her breath hitched, pulse accelerating.

"But why is someone like you," asked the voice, giving a small pause. "Out here, in a place like this in a time like this?"

She didn't reply, just continued to try and decipher the silhouette, fingers beginning to feel raw in the cold air and rough manner that they were being pressed against the cool metal of the knife. The figure gave a wild cackle.

"Pocketknife, eh? That won't do any good against me."

Her heart skipped a beat as he perfectly analyzed her 'weapon', which meant he could see her clearly, whereas he was entirely indecipherable.

"But that wasn't the purpose of me coming here tonight,"

She bit her tongue before finally speaking. "What do you want?"

He laughed loudly as though her hidden threat in the words was cute or funny. "I adore you already." There was a pause in speaking in which involved more laughter. Suddenly the laughter stopped cold, and a serious air took over. "No. My purpose is confidential, to say the least."

She stared up at the silhouette in disbelief.

"You should go home, Hirotani-san."

Her eyes widened as he said her name, and she acted on instinct rather than wit. "No!" She shouted, loudly enough that she hoped someone would hear and get this prowler away from her.

"Ah," he murmured thoughtfully. "I told them we shouldn't have given her a choice." Before she had time to scrutinize what he said, two hands, icy cold, shot out of the darkness and grasped her wrists cruelly, bringing her forcibly to a standing position.

"If you wanted me to get up," she spat. "I could have done it myself."

He chuckled darkly. "You would have refused. Then it would be very hard to get the _initial purpose_ over with, wouldn't it?"

"Initial purpose…" She repeated slowly, unsurely.

"Consider this a kidnapping, Seno-chan!" The voice replied in an oddly cheerful, higher pitch.

Acting on instinct, once again, her eyes widened considerably, and she screamed as a last resort, begging mentally for someone to hear the commotion and come to see what was going on, hopefully resulting in the police being called.

"Alright, alright." The voice laughed, yet again. "It's not a kidnapping. More of helping the unwilling."

"Unwilling?" She repeated, confused.

"Unwilling of being helped." He replied coolly. She could practically hear the smirk in his voice.

"What are you going to do?" She asked uncertainly, taking a half step backward, away from this person, who ever it was.

"You won't remember a thing." He promised icily.

_Then there was only black._

-

She awoke in an entirely unfamiliar place, the sound of a clock ticking somewhere nearby and sunlight visible even through her closed eyes. Something was touching her hair, gentle strokes ranging from her crown to the ends in a motherly fashion, a small hum of adoration every now and then. The sensation wasn't odd or uncomfortable, and she allowed whoever-it-was to continue.

She thought back to the night before. Who had that voice belonged to? And better yet, where was she at the moment? She identified that she was laying on something other than the cold concrete of the alley, and there was definitely something soft and pillow-like beneath her head. Wait—

_Where was she?_

Her eyes flew open and she found herself staring into a pair of olive green eyes on a heart-shaped, fair-skinned face. It was a girl, her hair messily layered and an orange hue, and it fell to her shoulders in a straight style, bangs eye-length and choppy. Her eyes widened and she drew back, whimpering and biting her lip. Her eyes glazed over with tears before she stood and began bowing rapidly. Sen noticed subconsciously that she was wearing a blue (1) yukata.

"Gomenasai, gomenasai, gomenasai!" She cried. "I was only touching, I was curious and you were asleep!"

"Ano…" Sen started, confused by the overreaction.

"I shouldn't have even tried, I should have asked you first!" The girl wailed.

"Tomo-chan," a voice called from outside the door. The girl stiffened before prancing over to open it.

A teenage boy stood in the doorway, his pure white hair fell in shaggy spikes to the middle of his neck, bangs eye length and with the same "spiky" illusion, hair from the sides pulled over the left eye. His eyes happened to be a blood red color. He peered over the girl's shoulder at Sen, who hurriedly sat up in what she had realized to be a futon lain out on the floor.

"Ohayo, sleeping beauty." The boy greeted in a somewhat mocking voice, different from the one she had heard the night before. "Confused?"

Sen slowly nodded.

"This is Sohma Tomo-chan," he pointed to the yukata-wearing girl who still was muttering apologies under her breath in embarrassment, a bright red flush to her face. "Kawaii, isn't she?" He asked with a playful grin. Sen cocked her head to the side, glancing at her.

"Yeah." Sen agreed unsurely.

"But," he leaned in closer, until his lips were near her ear. Sen shivered involuntarily. "She's an idiot." He drew back, cackling to himself. "I'm—yours, truly—Sohma Kaito. Age seventeen, blood type: A…" he continued rambling about himself before pointing at Sen. "And you are?"

"Hirotani Sen," she told him. He motioned with a beckoning movement for more information. Sen sighed exasperatedly. "I am sixteen years old, my blood type is AB, and I attend an all-girl high school."

"Naruhodo…" Kaito murmured. "But, why are you here?"

"A-Ano," Tomo put in weakly. Kaito turned around, setting his gaze on her. She gave a small whimper before answering. "She's the one that ran away and Akira-sama wanted to bring here…I think…"

"Hai, hai, Tomo-chan!" Kaito congratulated, giving her a thumbs-up. He turned back to Sen. "Are you staying here with us?"

She stared at him testily before sighing passively. "What other choice do I have?" She asked rhetorically.

"DID YOU HEAR THAT, TOMO-CHAN?" Kaito squealed, making Tomo jump and whimper even more. "We have a new housemate!"

"T-Tomo is pleased to meet you!" Tomo greeted overly loudly, pressing her hands together and bowing.

Sen found herself laughing.

-

"Main house?" Sen repeated gazing, intrigued, at Kaito. "How big is the Sohma family?"

Kaito hummed lowly, stretching his arms out behind him. "Pretty big. But Akira-san doesn't want you staying here, for some reason."

Sen frowned. "Where does this Akira-san want me to stay? And who is Akira-san?"

"Akira-san is the head of the family, at the moment. He wants you to stay with Satoru-san in his home away from the main house—but don't ask me why."

Sen nodded slowly, crossing her arms over her chest.

"There are some things about the Sohmas it's better you didn't know." Kaito told her darkly.

"What kind of things?" She asked, curious.

"Ah—nothing. Forget I said it." Kaito said with a grin.

-

Satoru's house was a ways away from the Main House, yet still within walking distance, and located within a thick area of forest. It wasn't a brand new house, and its' previous owner had been Sohma Shigure, who had long sense moved out and given it to a new buyer by the name of Soma Satoru.

Sen hummed in disapproval to herself, standing at the front porch and gazing into the house that had been left wide open. She wondered flatly whether she was supposed to just go in or not. After a few moments of silent staring and wondering, she cautiously stepped into the house, scanning over the entrance room for a sign of anyone being around. She hurried out of her shoes, trying to be as silent as possible.

"Are you Hirotani-san?" A voice asked, out of nowhere. Sen jumped, startled, what she imagined to be a good five inches into the air. She turned to see a boy, about her age, standing in the wake of another sliding door. His hair was jaw length and layered, and a silky silver color with eye length bangs. She flushed upon acknowledging that he was also very good-looking.

"H-Hai." Sen stammered.

"I'm Sohma Yukio." He told her. "Are you looking for Satoru?"

"Hai." Sen repeated.

"He's out." Yukio replied rather darkly, as though this was a good thing. His face brightened as he changed the subject. "So you'll be living with us, eh?"

Sen nodded.

"Come in, I'll show you around."

Sen simply nodded again and followed him.

"The last time this room was used, it belonged to Honda Tohru," Yukio was saying as he pushed open the door to what was to be her bedroom. "I've never met her…"

"Who is she?" Sen asked curiously.

"No one." Yukio replied hurriedly. "Just a person close to the Sohmas."

She nodded for what felt like the fiftieth time that day.

-

She awoke the next morning, a Sunday, to see rays or morning sunlight shining through my window. There was the undeniable feeling of something's being amiss. She pondered over what it could be, and then a familiar sensitively numb feeling on her back—like the feeling you get when something is close to the center of your forehead—gave her all she needed to know.

There was someone besides her in the futon.

She felt her eyes widen and her face heat.

The person beside her gave a pathetic mumble in their sleep, and she moved closer to the edge of the bed. An arm flung lazily over her shoulders, and she cringed involuntarily. Slowly, she turned over to see who it was that was beside her, hoping that it wasn't Yukio or any other good-looking Sohma.

It was a boy, about her age. His hair was choppy and the color of that yellow-orange crayon that no one ever really uses. He much tanner than her, but still pale enough to count. His eyes were closed peacefully. Before she had time to consider how cute the situation might have been, the weight of it came crashing down on her.

She screamed out of instinct.

The boy's eyes flicked open and he tore his arm away, shooting into a sitting position and staring at her in shock. "Who the HELL are YOU?"

"Hirotani Sen." She answered. "Who the hell are YOU?"

"Sohma Kyo—the second." He replied. "Would ya care to tell me why you're in my room?"

"Kyo?" Someone said from the doorway. Sen looked up to see Yukio, staring at them with a confused expression. "Why are you here?"

Kyo smiled darkly and slightly sadistically before getting out of the futon—Sen noticed that he had seemingly slept in his clothes—and began cracking his knuckles. "You ready to die, you damn rat?"

Sen stared at him, confused. Had he said 'rat'?

Yukio smirked. "You have a habit of saying that, don't you?"

"YOU'RE DAMN RIGHT!" Kyo exclaimed.

Yukio stared across the room at him calmly.

"Not gonna say anything?" Kyo asked, gritting his teeth. "Then get ready to die!" He sprang forward, fists clenched.

"Yamete!" Sen shouted, standing up as though she were going to pull him away, though in all honesty she wouldn't succeed, anyway. Instead, she managed to trip over her own two feet and fall onto him.

There was a small explosion-like event, gray smoke erupting from the place he'd once stood. A small, orange cat stood in the midst of the smoke. Fire seemed to be brewing behind its' eyes. Sen stared at it, shocked, before picking it up and shaking it.

"I turned him into a cat!" She shouted in disbelief.

"Is Kyo back?" A voice asked. Sen froze—it was the voice from that night in the alley. She looked up to see a man of around twenty-two years standing beside Yukio, wearing a gray robe. His hair was mid-neck length, dark black, and layered, and his eyes were dark gray. She immediately identified him as Satoru from the description Yukio had given.

Satoru laughed loudly. "It looks like he is."

"But I turned him into a CAT!" Sen cried, resuming her earlier antics. "Did I hit him in the wrong place and he transformed like this?"

"Kind of…" Satoru muttered.

Gravity reared its ugly head and she tripped again, this time falling towards Yukio and Satoru.

Two more explosions occurred, this time leaving behind a dog and a rat. Sen stared at the animals, bewildered.

"What…is going on?" She asked.

* * *

1 - a yukata is a summer robe. 


	3. Chapter 2

A/N: I present to you CHAPTER TWO! Sorry for the wait, I was overflowing with schoolwork and then got Saturday detention…and anyone who's read my author's notes in "Death Wish" would know that I have a habit of having a lot of things come up when I'm supposed to be working on a chapter.

* * *

Sen stared, confused, at the three animals before her. "What…is going on?" She asked slowly.

The dog sighed with Satoru's voice, and turned its head in a different direction. "I think this was supposed to happen, Yukio." It looked back at Sen. "Our family has lived with this curse for generations. When our bodies become weak, or are weak or stressed, we transform into the twelve animals of the Chinese Zodiac, and the four Outsiders including the cat, wolf, fox, and owl."

(Interruption: it's the sequel. Why wouldn't I include the Outsiders when Death Wish was based on them?)

Sen merely continued to stare, too astonished to even form legitimate sentences.

"The only one to have found out about the curse without having their memories erased was Honda Tohru, who lived in this house with Shigure, Yuki, and Kyo—the first."

The cat had its back turned on the rat and dog, seething over something.

"She was a really sweet girl," the dog using Satoru's voice murmured. "I only met her once. She smiled a lot…"

Sen looked away, eyes shadowing over. "So I'm taking her place." It was more like a statement.

"Not exactly." The rat, using Yukio's voice, cut in. "Akira-san wanted you here for some other reason. We aren't trying to relive the old days—they weren't all that great."

"Oh, another thing about the curse." The dog piped up. "When we change back we're…naked."

It was too late; the 'explosions' had taken place again, returning the three to their human form. Sen rolled her eyes upward toward the ceiling, locking them there until the three were fully clothed.

"What was Honda-san like?" Sen asked quietly.

Satoru laughed. "Like I said, always smiling. She was a real optimist, to say the least."

"Oh."

"She was even kinder as a mother." Satoru added. Kyo shot up, clenching his fists.

"I told you not to ever mention Okaa-san, you bastard!" He shouted angrily.

Sen turned and stared at him, slightly startled.

_Sohma Kyo. He is possessed by the year of the cat, and is the son of Honda Tohru._

Satoru sighed and continued. "But something went very wrong, this time. Considering that last generation, the 'God' relieved the entire zodiac of their curses, the Sohma curse gave us a bit of a "double whammy" this time, and we ended up with two dogs, two tigers, and two cats. The rest are the usual one person, but we've yet to find out why we got two of some things this time."

-

"You told her a lot this morning," Yukio murmured. "Akira-san won't be happy." His tone grew dark. It was nighttime, and he found Satoru and himself on the wooden, deck-like porch of the house, staring out into the forest. "Then again," Yukio tilted his head upward, smiling darkly to himself. "Akira-san only approved it because _you_ wanted her, right?"

Satoru hummed lowly to himself, scratching the back of his head. "It's something along those lines. (**1**) Seno is a strong girl, I know she is." He leaned against a wooden beam. "But expecting her to remember is a little much to ask of me, I believe."

Yukio leaned over to stare at Satoru in shock, eyes wide. "You mean she _still_ can't remember it?"

Satoru nodded slowly. "She may never remember it, actually. How depressing."

"How can you be so passive about it?" Yukio muttered flatly. He, too, leaned back, hands tracing small circles onto the wood. "At least you could help her while you had the chance."

Satoru nodded slowly. "I'm not sure Yume was as much of a help to her as I'd hoped. I should have just left her here and appealed to Akira-san later…" he sighed. "But I was an idiot, and left her with that woman, now this."

"Now what?" Yukio asked, slightly confused.

"She has the scars."

"Where?"

There was a silence.

"_Everywhere_." Satoru finally answered.

"But you can't blame your mistake for that," Yukio assured him darkly and quietly. "Even if she never remembers, you'll still have her here. You can still _remind_ her."

Satoru stood up, tucking his hands into the pockets of his dark jeans. "Not until she can handle it."

-

The crisp, cold night air had long sense stolen the breath of the woman that sat in a lazy manner on the steps around the back of the restaurant, inhaling deeply before removing the cigarette from her lips and emitting a ring of smoke into the night sky that was slightly fogged over due to the amount of smoke from both the woman and the others outside. Her blonde hair was long, extending to her ribs in a straight style and parted cheekbone-length bangs hanging in her blue-green eyes.

"Ami-chan,"

She glanced over at the usual group of uncivilized men who gathered behind the restaurant often to drink and smoke, throwing their glass bottles to the concrete ground and shattering them rather than throwing it away. She rolled her eyes at them and stared ahead, sighing and releasing a measure of smoke in one huff rather than in well-practiced rings.

"Yeah, what do you want?" She asked humorlessly, pressing the remains of her cigarette into the smooth concrete patio floor and then tossing it to the ground around three feet below, drawing another from her pocket and lighting it.

The group laughed loudly.

"Show us your tits, little lady!" One of them hollered drunkenly.

Ami laughed humorlessly, holding up her middle finger and continuing to stare at the smoke rather than the group. "Not today," she teased. "But if you want to see my fist, I'd be more than happy to agree."

"Does it have tits?" The statement was followed by more moronic laughter.

She rolled her eyes again. "Start thinking through your brain and not through your _reproductive organs_."

"Aw, come on, just a little peek!"

"She said no." A cold voice came out of the shadows as a man stepped out into the light, light brown eyes narrowed and glaring at the group of men. His hair was a light chestnut, layers cut to frame his slender face perfectly and ending at his jaw in slightly uneven proportions. "So fuck off."

"Chion," Ami muttered.

The group howled with laughter as the man, Chion, approached them, eyes dangerous and with fists clenched. He caught one of them, a scraggly man, by the collar of his shirt, drawing a gun from somewhere in his pocket and pointing it between the man's eyes.

"Chion!" Ami shouted suddenly, springing up from the steps as if in an attempt to stop him. "Don't shoot him!"

Chion's steely glare landed on her, as his pupils seemed to reduce to slits. He angled the gun to where it was millimeters away from the man's head, and pulled the trigger. Ami and the man flinched at the loud bang, and the man cried out loudly before realizing that he hadn't actually been shot. Chion tore his hand away from him, turning swiftly and snatching Ami's wrist, pulling her along with him and not letting go until she was in the passenger seat of his car with a shocked and confused expression.

He slammed the door loudly as he got in, himself, and stared through the windshield in silent fury.

"Chion…" Ami spoke up finally.

"Don't speak to me about what just happened." Chion instructed coldly. "Just talk about random things until I lose my train of thought." He turned the key cruelly, the car jolting to life as air blew almost loudly from the vents and the lights shone dully.

"Etto…okay." Ami muttered unsurely, watching passively as he pulled out of the parking lot. "Did you hear from Satoru-niisan that Hirotani-san is living with him?" She asked weakly.

"I didn't." Chion replied through gritted teeth.

"Take me back, Chion."

Chion turned to stare at her with widened, furious eyes. "What the hell are you saying?"

"My shift is starting in five minutes, and I can't afford to lose this job."

Chion sighed, glaring through the windshield again. "I'll take you back, but not around the back." At the sight of her confused and disbelieving expression, he added more. "If I go back there, I'll _kill_ those bastards—for real."

"Why do you always save me like that?" Ami asked quietly.

"Don't ask annoying questions," Chion answered darkly. "And for a tiger, you suck at protecting _yourself_."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ami asked, frowning.

Chion only laughed.

-

"It's a good day," One of the hospital workers informed Sen with a smile.

Sen grinned back. Suzuki had always been her favorite nurse, rather than the ones who were stoic and stiff.

"Your mother isn't with you, I see." Suzuki acknowledged. "Did something happen?" She noticed the sudden darkness in Sen's eyes and veered away from the subject, pushing the door open. "Ano…never mind. Go in."

Sen nodded shortly and stepped inside, staring across the room at her sister's unconscious form. As she approached the hospital bed, she felt her pulse accelerate with excitement at the thought of it being a "good day" in which Chiyo would give a small grunt, or her hand would twitch. After what felt like hours of silent staring, she sank into the small chair by the bed and sighed dejectedly.

Chiyo's form was silent and unmoving, her pretty face blank and black hair unkempt from having been in the hospital bed for months without getting out. Sen became too distracted from watching her sister intently to hear the conversation at the door, and the footsteps leading into the room.

"Sen-chan,"

Sen's heart seemed to stop and her blood ran cold. It was the voice of her mother. Very slowly and quietly, she turned to face her, eyes frozen wide.

It was a heartbreaking sight. Yume hardly ever left the house, and when she did it was Sen's job to dress her and put her makeup on—things she'd long-since forgotten how to do herself. Currently she was wearing her favorite white pencil skirt and random, mismatched socks with sandals and a bright blue tee shirt. She'd tried to put on makeup, pink lipstick smeared across her mouth and missing the boundaries of her lips on some spots, the same pink color on her eyelids and cheeks, as though she couldn't find her blush or eye shadow, or hadn't known how to use them. Her hair was in a ponytail tied with a broken ponytail holder tied in a clumsy knot.

"Where did you go?" Yume asked. "I woke up and you weren't there, so I went out and looked for you, and called your name, Sen, Sen, Sen, but you never came, and I had to go home. But when I told Chiyo, she wouldn't believe me, and I had to come here."

Sen bit her lip at her mother's saying she had told Chiyo. In the early days of Chiyo's coma, when Yume hadn't been quite as insane and was more in denial than anything else, Sen had agreed to make a home-Chiyo, a model made of a wig dummy head with a black wig. Over time, Yume had started speaking to it, and finally began addressing it and acting as though the Styrofoam head was really her daughter. Sen remembered the time Yume had stayed up all night crying and apologizing to the dummy for accidentally puncturing a hole in it. Sen had replaced it before her mother awoke the next morning, not remembering a thing.

"I was so sad, Sen-chan." Her mother concluded. "Why did you leave? Where did you go?" Her tangled Japanese and use of male language rather than female made her seem just like a small child.

"I went to school." Sen lied.

"You were gone so long…"

"I know." Sen murmured. Yume pulled her into a stiff, awkward hug, quickly releasing her when she'd had enough.

"Come home, Sen-chan."

The insane darkness in her eyes made Sen want to scream rejections and run, but how could she when her mother had tried so hard to make herself pretty to come find her? When she'd probably stood outside in the cold, just calling her name?

She couldn't do it.

-

Sen slumped against the kitchen wall, eyes shadowed over and hands over her ears as plates crashed around her, her mother's shrieks intelligible and furious. She winced as a piece of china whizzed by her neck, cutting a shallow wound into the flesh yet bleeding all the same.

She made her second escape after her mother fell asleep, this time leaving to Satoru's home and ignoring the wetness of her hair, considering that she'd taken a shower to try and relieve some of the pain of her four new wounds, mainly facial and the one on her neck. As she stopped to lean against the paper sliding door, breathing hitched as she panted from running, she looked up to see Satoru inside the entrance room, staring blankly at her and leaning against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest.

"Satoru-san…" She panted, weakly taking off her shoes and placing them on the mat, and then turning to face him. "What are you…" she paused to cough "…doing awake at this hour?"

"Where were you, Seno?" He asked quietly.

"I was…" Her voice trailed off as she tried to think of an excuse, drawing a complete blank and staging a coughing fit.

"Your hair is wet," he acknowledged, eyes narrowing. "What were you washing away?"

_Of course he'd know._

Her hand flew to her neck, the other to her cheek where the most visible of that night's wounds were. Her pulse accelerated as he approached her, reaching out and pulling her hands away. She gasped as he drew her closer, yet not into an embrace.

"When did you stop telling me everything, Seno?" He asked. Sen stared up at him in confusion. "In eleven years, that's the only thing that's changed between us."

"What…are you talking about?" She asked.

He let go of her, strolling into the shadows of the darkened house. "You'll remember someday."

-

A five year old girl stared down at her mitten-covered hands, ankles buried somewhere in the snow. "It's so cold." She muttered, shivering. The field in which she would always come to play in during the summers looked so unfamiliar in the winter, the whiteness spread out over everything and the occasional tree bare and naked.

"Where are your parents?"

She jumped, startled, at the voice, and slowly looked up to see whom it belonged to. It was a boy, around her age, with dark brown hair that fell to the middle of his neck, bangs hanging in his eyes. He wore black jeans and a thin, black coat. He stared at her expectantly.

"Well?" He pressed on.

"I don't know." She told him finally, shrugging. He sighed.

"Come with me."

-

"This is Hirotani-san." The boy, who'd told her his name, Satoru, introduced. Hirotani was a frail man with long, brunette hair tied in awkward ponytails that stuck out at weird places, wearing an apron and with a kitten-printed pink blanket draped over his shoulders.

"He's the headmaster of Minamizawa Academy, which is where we are now."

"Who is this cute little princess?" Hirotani asked gleefully. "What's her name?"

"Tell him your name." Satoru muttered.

She drew in a deep breath before staring at Hirotani and releasing it slowly and shaking her head to represent her confusion.

"You don't know?" Hirotani asked. "How adorable! He leaned across the desk to peer at her closer. "Your name is Hirotani Sen, now. Can you say 'Hirotani Sen'?"

"Hiro…tani…Sen." She stammered, frowning.

"I leave her to you," Satoru told him, waving over his shoulder as he left the room.

"Koneko." Sen pointed to the blanket.

Hirotani laughed, taking it off and handing it to her.

-

"Amnesia?"

"Yes, definitely."

Sen frowned, pressing her ear against the door.

"What makes you think that?"

"Something happened three weeks ago when you found her, Satoru-kun. Her memory just erased itself. I had to teach her how to eat and dress again."

Sen's eyes widened. _Does that mean I'm strange?_

_--_

Sen jolted awake in a cold sweat, panting, and found herself in her bedroom in the darkness. The clock beside her read three forty-seven A.M. She sighed and fell back onto the pillow, still panting slightly. Her eyes widened as she recapped the dream, and she sat up in bed again.

She'd known Satoru before.

* * *

A/N:

1 - In Japanese, you add 'e' or 'n' to the end of someone's name if their name ends in a vowel, to show friendship or something like tat. Since Sen's name ends in a consonant, you add 'o'.

Example: Kyo ends in an O, so it would be Kyon. Yuki ends in I, so it would be Yukie. (You do pronounce the 'e' as eh or ay, not like in english where changing Yuki to Yukie would mean no difference at all.) Rin ends in 'n' so it would be Rino rather than Rine or Rinn. Get it?

Ami and Chion, if you haven't worked it out, are members of the zodiac who are coming up in later chapters. Teehee.


	4. Chapter 3

A/N: AAAH! I forgot to mention it, but Satoru-kun is eighteen. He only dresses like Shigure after a bath, during that 'lazy hour'. He looks more like Kaname from Vampire Knight, yet minus the fangs. Was that intentional? Probably. Is he secretly in love with Seno? Hmm, I don't know. Sen's 'father', Headmaster Takumi, probably was taken from the headmaster of Vampire Knight, as well…how cruel am I?

* * *

The early afternoon sun cast a tainted glow across glass windows and shiny cars and anything else that was remotely reflective in the street crowded with students, the majority still in their uniform, walking home from school. A particular group wore black sailor style summer short-sleeved uniforms with alice-blue stitching across the pleats of the mini skirt, and slouchy white knee-high socks with black shoes that sort of resembled a flat style of ballet slipper, yet with soles. One particular girl in the crowd stood out slightly, considering that she walked with a brisk and stoic manner rather than the rest of the laughing, talking clique. Her hair was cropped short and jet black with a punk feel to it, cheekbone-length locks framing her thin face, voluminous on the top and the back spiky, fire engine red on the middle layer. Her eyes were a bloody red, black tinged around the boundaries of the iris.

"Shi,"

The girl looked up at the sound of her name, and her gaze rest on another girl, of her age, wearing a different school uniform and with a different crowd. She wore an ironclad smirk, green eyes glistening. Her hair was an unnatural shade of golden blonde, unbelievably long, and it fell to nearly her thighs in a straight style. She wore the white summer uniform with black stitching and black knee-high socks with white dress shoes. Her dark green bag was slung over one shoulder, and she had one hand wrapped around the strap just to have something to do with it, it appeared.

"Roku," The other girl, Shi, simply nodded and turned around, hurriedly walking away in the other direction.

-

The square windows of the public bus threw sections of orange-tinted light onto the floor below, catching the reflective metal of the poles and creating a bright glow-like reaction to the reflection and the light, though nothing unbearable. The last two people on the bus remained silent, one sitting on the seat and the other leaning against the wall beside it.

Roku turned her head slightly to narrow her eyes at Shi, who was staring out of the window opposite their side of the bus without a set expression.

"Why were you even following those unruly people?" Roku asked in disapproval, crossing her arms over her chest. "They were disgusting."

"They only walk home the same way as I do." Shi replied, her voice quiet and emotionless. "And what were you doing with those other girls?" She placed a deal of emphasis on the last word.

Roku rolled her eyes upward. "What, are you jealous?"

"Yes."

Shi closed her eyes momentarily, opening them again and flushing with the contact of skin against her lips, and she stared into Roku's eyes as her own widened. She leaned into the kiss, face flushing to the point of similarity to a tomato, and the passage-under of a bridge only distracted her for a split second.

Roku pulled away, smirking at Shi, accomplished. "If I'm distracting you from our purpose, I could get off at the next stop, ne?"

Shi's eyes widened again and she caught Roku by her wrist, pulling her into a sitting position beside her. Roku laughed quietly, pulling a silver cell phone from her pocket and dialing a number.

"Satoru-oniisan," she greeted once the answer was given on the other line. "Where is Hirotani-san?"

"Seno is visiting Minamizawa, today," came the thoughtful reply.

Roku hummed in disapproval to herself. "She shouldn't be there, but I won't dwell on that too much." She clicked her tongue. "It's a good thing the bus driver is already going this way, ne, Shi-chan?" Shi nodded shortly.

"Shi is there, too?"

"Yep!" Roku replied happily, slinging an arm around Shi's shoulder. "Oniisan, you should have already guessed that." She hung up before he could reply.

"But why is Hirotani-san in Minamizawa?" Shi asked in the same quiet tone. Roku crossed her arms over her chest and shrugged.

-

Minamizawa Academy had never looked so large and intimidating unless one was to see it up close. The immense structure—consisting mostly of dozens of smaller buildings and dormitories—stood nestled in front of a woodland area in a generous-sized amount of forest area in a city not so far from the small town of Minamizawa, located on the island of Honshu, Japan. The city's sky is mainly in the gray hue, and rarely ever proceeds to lighten to the typical azure blue that those of us that live in sunnier areas have grown accustomed to over the years. The school itself stood out rather obviously, considering that the town of Minamizawa itself was a miniscule, uncharted area with only one small school with only a single teacher, the age groups all intermixed.

And the main building, this building consisted of the headmaster's office, seemed to mock the fifteen year old girl that stood in front of it, his palms sweating, hands feeling rather cold, and fingers stiff as she watched the students nonchalantly enter and exit. Her hair was black with a blue shine to it and fell in layers to the middle of her neck, pairing nicely with the cerulean blue color of her eyes and almost-pale/almost-tan color of her skin. She wore jeans and a t-shirt, considering that this first-year did not attend the particular school.

Hirotani Sen gritted her teeth and pushed through the crowd into the headmaster's Building.

The inside was warmer than she had expected, with navy blue teal-flecked carpeting and typical desks for secretaries, so on and so forth. She made her way around the small clusters of chatting students, waiting in line to speak to one of the headmaster's advisors or assistants, and finally found she standing in front of a heavy-looking dark wooden door. A gold plaque was secured invisibly to the door read "Headmaster Hirotani" in all capital characters used in the English language. The door opened and a girl of about Sen's age stepped outside, one hand still on the door and laughing over her shoulder.

Her hair was craftily layered—and everyone in the room took a collective pause to praise the author for not using the words 'choppy layers'—and about a centimeter past her jaw line. It was jet black underneath, flamboyant green on the top and the roots the same pitch black hue. She wore not the school uniform, yet something that would be frowned upon by many sensible people. She wore a short sleeved cerulean shirt with the imprint of a black tie and collar—not to mention pure white suspenders—along with a long sleeved, skin tight turtle yellow turtle-neck that rather resembled the under armor of an American football player. There was also a knee-length, garnet skirt that lay over a few thick layers of white netting and leggings with thick black and white stripes. She wore sunny yellow fluffy boots that, truth be told, looked rather itchy.

Her eyes were two different colors, one light brown and the other green, and encircled by thick eyeliner and black eye shadow. Her complexion was clear and beige.

She hurried past Sen, kicking her boots out behind her in a cheerful, playful manner.

Sen frowned, confused, and stepped into the headmaster's office.

Hirotani Takumi had not changed.

He propped his elbow on the desk to support his head, the same awkward blond ponytails jutting out in random places and a light blue kitten-print blanket, two green oven mitts over his hands and rounded-rectangle spectacles sliding down the bridge of his nose.

"Sen-chan!" He greeted happily upon seeing the girl step inside the room, leaning against the door with her hands clasped nervously behind her back. "What brings you here?"

Sen took a deep breath. "I…" she hesitated. "Want to know about my childhood."

Takumi grew still and quiet, a silence settling over the room. "I had my suspicions about you asking that, someday." He muttered distantly. "Well, sit down." He motioned toward the chair in front of his desk.

Sen sat down uneasily.

"I can't tell you directly, but I do know someone who can _show_ you." Takumi handed Sen a slip of paper with calligraphic kanji on it.

"Sohma Ichigo…" Sen read aloud. "Who is this?" She added in confusion.

"Two people will take you to meet him—their names are Shi and Roku." Takumi continued. "Don't stay any longer than you have to—the old Outsiders are unstable. Ichigo will explain to you why."

Sen stood up unsurely and exited the room, and the building. As soon as she stepped outside of the main building, two girls appeared at her side that she presumed to be Shi and Roku.

"Going to see Ichigo-oniisan, are you?" The first, a blonde asked as she rest her arm on Sen's shoulder.

Sen nodded nervously.

"I'm Roku," the blond introduced herself. "This is Shi."

The second, a girl with black hair nodded at her informally.

"Where does Ichigo-san live?" Sen asked.

Roku sighed, looking away. "I don't know, but we're meeting in Minamizawa."

-

Minamizawa itself appeared to be even smaller once inside it, considering that a majority of the land in Minamizawa was rural fields and forests, only a small area left for the main district of the town, houses scattered around it and some in the forests and fields. The particular place they were meeting was an empty house that overlooked the frontal edges of a forest area. Roku and Shi headed in almost confidently while Sen lagged behind.

There was a teenage boy, around seventeen years of age, standing in front of the window with his back turned to the group. His skin was pale, hair a flamboyant orange color, one hand tracing unknown patterns onto the glass of the window as he spoke to himself in intelligibly quiet words.

"Oniisan," Roku greeted. "Hirotani is here."

"Hirotani," the boy, Ichigo, murmured, turning slowly and leaning against the window. "What did you need me for?"

"Ano…" Sen muttered nervously. "Takumi-san told me to come here, to learn about my past…I think…"

"That's all I am good for anymore, isn't it?" Ichigo asked, and gave a low laugh as his eyes shadowed over. "And to learn about the Sohmas, right?"

Sen nodded.

"Listen," Ichigo threw his head back lightly, staring at the ceiling. "I've looked this way for twenty-seven years. I haven't aged since I turned seventeen twenty-seven years ago." He laughed, slightly maniacally, to himself. "None of the rest of us have. Sora, Kyoumi, they're exactly the same as me. Stuck in the same repetitive cycle of this useless life until the Sohma Curse lets us go with the rest of the Zodiac." He spoke of the curse as though it were a living entity. "Hoshikami-sama won't let us die."

"Hoshi…kami?" Sen repeated, confused. (Hoshikami would mean 'star god'.)

"Hoshikami-sama wants something from us. I've tried countless times to die, just to get out, but it's impossible." He spat the last word. "Hoshikami-sama is a fool."

Sen stared at him, bewildered. His icy cerulean gaze landed on her, and he suddenly snatched her wrist and closed his eyes. Her reality began to morph into a completely different scene, and before she knew it, the abandoned house scene had disappeared completely.

--

"Satoru-kun!" Sen cried, running through a tight gap in the field of flowers and bushes, many of them even taller than an adult. The overgrowth was intentional, and the labyrinth of the flower field was especially forbidden to civilians of Minamizawa, considering that the structure was merely for looks. Satoru finally turned a corner and stopped suddenly, crouching down and motioning for Sen to do the same.

"What…did you want…to tell me?" The nine-year-old girl asked, panting.

"I couldn't tell you anywhere else." Satoru explained. "It's your parents."

"You mean Takumi?"

Satoru shook his head. "Your real parents. You can't remember them."

Sen's eyes widened, and she rapidly shook her head. "Takumi is my father!" She shouted defiantly.

"They've died." Satoru told her in a cold tone. Sen stared at him in shock. "Your parents left you in that snowy field on the day I found you. Not long after, they were killed by something unknown. Your father clawed his throat out, and your mother has disappeared."

"No way…" Sen whispered, and sank into a sitting position, covering her eyes as tears started to seep out. "No way…"

-

"Sen, this is Hamaguchi Yume and Hamaguchi Chiyo."

Sen looked up at Satoru in a betrayed state of disbelief before finally letting go of his hand and analyzing the two young women before her. Yume, who Satoru had explained to her as the blonde, was petite with pale blonde hair and a pretty face. Chiyo had jet-black hair that fell to her shoulders and dark, kind eyes.

But the atmosphere seemed too fragile, as if it would fall apart in an instant.

And then it did.

-

"Satoru-kun!" Came the eleven-year-old voice of Sen, and it was clear that she was crying and possibly attempting not to be heard considering the vicious screaming in the background. "Help me!"

"What is it, Sen?" His voice held no sign of worry; he seemed completely calm despite the panicked atmosphere on the other line.

"Okaa-san has gone mad," Sen whispered frantically. "Chiyo won't wake up and Okaa-san is saying she's dead and I don't know what to do!" There was a silence. "Please! Help me!" She cried before the line went dead.

In his dormitory at Minamizawa Academy, Satoru stared down at the phone before falling to a slumping position with his face in his hands.

_It wasn't supposed to happen that way, Sen._

_Gomenasai.

* * *

_

A/N: IT'S RUSHED! IT'S RUSHED! OMIGOD!

Shi and Roku means four [death, or poem and six. That comes up later. And yes, I did just have to add Yuri. My inner lesbian told me it would be good for my toenails.


	5. Chapter 4

A/N: Can I go ONE CHAPTER without introducing a new member of the zodiac? Last chapter I introduced TWO and an old one!

But I shall not be telling you what Shi and Roku are.

I seriously **cannot** wait to introduce the ram. He is like…awesome.

* * *

Sickly-pale, thin fingers weaved through golden blonde hair, the occasional flicker of gazes in which lasted for a mere second, dimmed lights and locked doors making no difference to the rather uncomfortable mood to the scene. Words were stated but he did not hear nor acknowledge them, until one particular phrase stood out.

"What do you truly want, Sora?" The quiet, eerie voice of Akira rang out like an alarm in his mind. He'd waited for this.

Sora closed his eyes momentarily and gave a sigh of relief. The nightmare was about to end. "_Kill me_." The whisper seemed to echo, as Akira tilted his head to the side, rather confused by the decision.

"But why?" Akira asked simply. "You are only eighteen, anyway."

"I _should_ be forty-five!" Sora protested. "Just let me go. Kill me."

"Why the rush?" Akira's tone was icy. "_Etsu_ would want you to keep fighting."

The sound of Sora's teeth snapping together was almost audible. "That was twenty-seven years ago. It doesn't matter anymore."

Akira stood and turned away from him. "I will give you a year." He offered. "If, by the time that your time is almost up and you have chosen to live, I'll keep you alive."

"I've waited twenty-seven years for death!" Sora shouted incredulously. "I won't stay idle like this any longer!"

"Twenty-seven years is a long time," Akira murmured. "Wait longer."

-

The sun streamed down in bright strokes, the sky a clear and cloudless blue abyss. The tops of the trees swayed slightly in the wind.

"It's a nice day," Sen announced, peering outside the sliding door. She turned back to Yukio, he being the only other person in the main room with her.

Kyo trudged inside with his usual moody stance, and stopped at the foot of the stairs, turning and glaring pointedly at Yukio. "Your girlfriend is here." He told him, then turned swiftly around and ventured upstairs.

"Girlfriend?" Sen repeated, confused. A dark aura had taken place in the room, and Yukio had the all-famous vortex from Death Wish floating around him as the feeling of utter horror settled in so obviously that you could practically taste it.

"Whatever you do, Hirotani-san, don't open that door." Yukio warned darkly.

As soon as Sen shut the door, the second one beyond it flew open loudly, slamming against the end of the track in the floor. Yukio sat up straighter, casting a frightened look toward the shut door. Sen opened the first one about an inch-width area of space, and peered outside. Stupidly, she opened the door and stepped into the entry room.

There was a teenage boy leaning against the wall, arms crossed over his chest and one foot against the wall behind him. His eyes were closed, a small smirk on his face. Sen noticed subconsciously that he was frighteningly thin. The boy's eyes flicked open to reveal light gray irises with slit-like pupils, offset nicely by the silvery blonde, gray under-toned locks that framed the slender oval shape of the face. His gaze traveled up to her, and he sprang up with a ridiculous amount of energy.

"Are you Seno?" He asked loudly. His voice was high and rather girlish. He began speaking rapidly. "I have heard so much about you at the main house and all the time I was just like, O-M-G I have got to go and meet her sometime she just sounds really cool and it would be like so awesome!" He clasped his hands together, grinning. "Is Yukio-kun around?"

"Could you repeat that…slower?" Sen asked weakly.

He blinked at her as though he didn't understand what it had meant before answering. "Oh, yeah! Sorry, I sometimes talk to fast and people have no idea what I'm saying it's like, so crazy." He rolled his eyes. "I'm looking for Yukio-kun!" He chirped.

"He should be inside." Sen muttered, motioning for him to follow her. As soon as she stepped into the living room, the boy gave a loud, overdramatic gasp and his hands flew to his mouth.

"KIKI-CCHI!"

Yukio didn't bother to look up, and the vortex encased him once again. "Hello, Daisuke." He replied in a flat, monotone voice. "I'd almost forgotten about you."

"EH?" Daisuke demanded loudly, placing his hands on his hips. "You forgot about me? Your WIFE?"

"Why 'wife'?" Yukio asked quietly, though it was ignored.

Daisuke clutched at Sen's shoulder, peering over at Yukio before hiding his face in her shoulder as the vortex traveled over to her, as well.

"I cannot believe you would forget about me," Daisuke accused dramatically, shaking Sen roughly by the shoulder. "Seno is the only one who will help me pull through this dark, dark hour…"

"It certainly is dark…" Sen agreed in the same flat, not-amused voice as Yukio.

"Please tell me you're alone," Kyo asked desperately, appearing at the top of the stairs. Daisuke blinked up at him.

"Nope!" He chirped. "I brought Kagami-chan with me!"

The vortex incased Kyo, as well.

At that very moment, the sliding door fell off the track and landed on the floor with a loud crashing sound, and a small, petite girl stood panting in its' wake, eyes shadowed over. Her hair was long and black, elbow length, and wavy ends blowing slightly in the wind from outside. Her hands were clenched into firm fists.

"Kyo-kun…" Her tone was hostile. "I…searched…everywhere…for…you…but…you never…answered my calls…"

Kyo backed against the wall in sheer terror. The girl looked up slowly, revealing pale brown eyes, and then charged straight at Kyo, grabbing him around the neck and shaking him rapidly and harshly as he gagged.

"MY LOVE!" She cried, snatching Kyo's wrist and pulling it over her shoulders roughly, thus flipping him down the stairs in what appeared to be a rather painful greeting call. "I WAS SO WORRIED! I THOUGHT YOU'D DIED OR SOMETHING LIKE THAAAAAT!"

"I'M GOING TO DIE IF YOU DON'T LET GO OF ME!" Kyo hissed.

"Go, go, Kagami-chan!" Daisuke cheered from the living room as the pummeling continued.

-

"Do you understand why you are here at all?" Akira asked icily.

A set of kind eyes blinked up at him—one a clouded-over pale blue, blind, and another a bright copper color—and he stared down listlessly into the fair face that held it, the ivory skin offset by amazingly long, gray-black and brown-flecked hair that brushed against the floor in a standing position. She sat on the floor, hair fanned out behind her like a shadow.

She shook her head.

Akira's eyes narrowed. "I see."

(Interruption: is it…ETSU? MWA HA HA! Nope.)

The nine-year-old clapped her hands together and tilted her head to the side, smiling. "But, Shi-chan told me that I was going to be staying with one of the zodiac." An addition of 'desu' followed the statement, her high and childish voice cheery. "Who am I going to be living with?"

Akira scrutinized her carefully for a moment before answering. "The owl." He gave a small smirk. "He could use you, Saku."

The girl, Saku, stared up at him with wide eyes. "An old outsider?" She asked, confused.

Akira remained still. "No. A new one."

Saku smiled. "I'll do my best!"

-

"Why the hell are you here?" Kyo demanded, sitting at the table as far away from Kagami as physically possible.

"Am…" Kagami started in a hurt tone. "Am I not allowed to miss you?"

"NO."

"Senoooo!" Kagami whined, childishly curling into Sen's side like a kitten. "Kyo-kun is being mean!"

Sen sighed exasperatedly before turning to Kagami. "You and Daisuke-san—what Juunishi animals are you?"

Kagami stared up at her in disbelief, and Daisuke gave an overreaction and fell over backwards, quickly propping himself up in a crouched position and staring at her in the same incredulous state as Kagami.

"She knows about the curse." Yukio muttered explanatorily.

"OH!" Daisuke said loudly. "I was like so confused because it was just like o-m-g she did not just like totally go there but like she did and I was just like oh my god." He flipped a hand at Yukio. He grinned at Sen. "I'm a totally cute little sheep you should see it and it is just so kawaii!"

"Ram." Sen corrected listlessly.

"Kagami-chan is a cute little piggy!"

"Boar."

Kagami looked up slowly and locked her gaze on Kyo. "You're letting me cook for you, right _darling_?"

"Hell no!"

Kagami stood up, tucking her hand under the table. With hardly an effort, she lifted the table over her head and aimed for Kyo. "BUT I REALLY WANT TO!" She shouted, hostility cascading off of her in waves.

"Alright, alright!"

Kagami smiled happily and dropped the table, a loud crashing sound following. She turned to Sen. "Will you help me cook?"

-

_An empty, windowless room was all that was able to be seen, the silhouetted figure of a young girl standing by the window, wearing a plain white dress and nothing else. Her lavender-tinted white hair fell down to the middle of her back, purple-gray eyes staring ahead blankly._

_This world has already ended. _

_Nothing is to be born here._

_Nothing is to die._

_There is no one here but her, and she dare not leave. _

_Her life is a lonely one, but she survives. By choice, that is, because she controls this empty realm. How she got here, no one knows._

_They call her Hoshikami. _

_But her real name even she isn't aware of._

-

"Kyo-kun!" Kagami squealed. "We're leaving!"

"Good." Kyo muttered.

"Are you going to give me a goodbye kiss?" She asked excitedly, leaning over to where her cheek was stationed by his lips.

"No!" Kyo hissed, tearing away rapidly.

Kagami frowned, and then sunk her fingers into the hair at the nape of his neck, pulling upward. Kyo froze, catlike instincts setting in.

"What was that about not giving me a goodbye kiss?"

-

_What will become of the girl in the empty, deceased world?_

_She cannot even imagine.

* * *

_

I APOLOGIZE FOR THE WAAAAAIIIITTT!!!


	6. Chapter 5

A/N: Three. There's going to be a THIRD story of Death Wish. I'm sorry, but I'll just be sitting here trying to think of a decent chapter without introducing 117, 545, 687.36 new characters, and I'll start thinking of the third story. And thank you, running to my Heart-san for snapping me out of it! LESS CHARACTERS, MORE PLOT! FIGHT!

So I was trying to think of pasts that will really WOW people, and "Kyoumi" came flying out of the abyss and smacked me in the face. I guarantee, you won't expect it. You'll just have to wait for the third one, if you're going to read it…-sweat drop-

A lot of reviews have been saying it's too confusing, so I racked my brain for 'how' and read it over a few times. A few things stuck out:

1. I once described Takumi as brunette, then blonde. He's a blonde.

2. In chapter three where Sen was standing in front of Minamizawa Academy, I said 'his' to describe her. I meant 'her'.

3. In chapter 1, I described Satoru as being 22 years old. I have no idea how I messed that up. It was supposed to say 18.

4. If you haven't already guessed, it was Satoru and Kaito who found Sen in the alley. She mistook them as being one person.

5. Why are all the Sohma worked up about Sen being with them? I'm getting to it! I can't reveal that in chapter five!

6. Sen's mother is mentally disabled. When she throws tantrums, she gets violent.

I really want to name my chapters and get a new scanner. I draw my characters, mainly Kyoumi.

7. Not that I found it confusing, but I did mistype it. Sen's hair is just plain black. Not blue black.

Venom doesn't like pasts. She says they're boring and stupid. (Me: "What?! No! I love them, I love them!" SOB)

Eh, okay. Now that this massive author's note is over, let's get onto the chapter that was supposed to be here.

* * *

"You're leaving?" Hina asked, confused. Sen nodded shortly, tossing a notebook into her bag. Her locker was empty, hands full with textbooks, a plastic bag containing gym clothes slung over her shoulder and gym shoes dangling haphazardly, wound around her wrist by the laces.

"Hina-chan," Sen groaned. "Will you help me with some of these?" She gave the books a shake to show what she meant. Hina sighed and took three books from Sen, balancing them on her hip with an arm wrapped around them for support.

It was true. She was leaving the peace and serenity of her all-girl high school for the rich, wealthy Minamizawa Academy. It hadn't been her decision, Takumi had insisted on Sen transferring to his school, so as to try and "bring this torn daughter and father together" in his direct, overdramatic words. Minamizawa Academy was home to the majority of the Sohma zodiac, the only members that did not attend having already graduated, were home schooled, or simply didn't attend that particular school, whatever the reason may be. Sen sighed and turned to Hina.

"I'm leaving early today," she explained. "Because tomorrow is Sunday and it's be irrelevant to try and get in tomorrow."

Hina nodded distantly and they walked down the long corridors to their classroom. It wasn't too long after that Sen was called to leave, getting a chorus of "bye" as she left. All the way to the main office, she worried profusely. Takumi had said that one of the older members of the zodiac was going to take her. The oldest Sohma she'd met so far was either Satoru or Takumi, considering that Takumi was a Sohma from the "inside" who'd simply changed his name. But Satoru was in school, and Takumi was busy, of course…

She paused as she realized that she had subconsciously taken herself to the main office and was standing outside the door. Silent and unmoving, Sen finally sighed and pushed open the door, stepping inside and walking slowly to the desk belonging to Aoki-sensei, the attendance secretary. Aoki, a graying, frail woman, looked up at Sen through large, coke bottle glasses.

"Name?"

"Hirotani Sen," Sen's voice shook and lowered with nervousness.

Realization crossed Aoki's face, and she grabbed a piece of paper, writing quickly. She held up one bony finger and pointed to one of the benches along the back wall. Sen turned slowly, and noticed a young woman who looked to be around eighteen sitting in one of the chairs, her legs crossed.

Her hair was long, unnaturally golden blonde, the crown jet black and pure white underneath. Her eyes were heavily lined and black eye shadow was visible as she was looking down. She was wearing what appeared to be a long tank top as a dress. It was horizontally black and red striped, thinner black and white stripes along the sides. On the front was an image of white knives drawn by an American artist called Andy Warhol. Under the "dress" she wore a black fishnet long sleeved shirt and skull print fishnet tights. On her feet she wore knee high, lace up Goth double-decker boots. She looked up, revealing emerald green eyes, and her gaze landed on Sen.

"Yo! Hirotani!" She greeted, waving. She stood up and headed over to Sen, placing her hands on her shoulders and wheeling her out the door, flashing Aoki a grin as she exited, shutting the door loudly behind her. Sen stared at her, bemused.

"Are you a Sohma?" Sen asked slowly.

"Yep!" The woman grinned. "Sohma Ami—that's me."

"Are you—?" Sen started, getting interrupted.

"Shh," Ami brought a finger to her lips, mouthing the word 'Tora.' (1)

Conversation was scarce as they walked to the front of the school, the only noise being conversation from classrooms and the dull thud of Ami's boots. Before Sen had noticed that she was spacing out, she looked up and noticed that Ami was holding open the door of a bright red sports car open for her. Sen hastily clambered into the back seat, glancing at the driver and passenger seats, noticing that someone else was in the car.

The interior was black, the windows tinted dark, giving the car the appearance of being nighttime constantly. The lights of buttons on the dashboard were all red. There was rock music playing in a low volume, the sound of the heater muting it even more. The man in the driver's seat looked to be eighteen, the same age Sen presumed that Ami was. His hair was a chestnut brown, light brown eyes staring blankly ahead. He leaned in a slumped position against the seat, one arm propped on the black armrest beside the faux-leather seat.

"Chion," Ami murmured lovingly as she sat down in the passenger seat, crossing her legs and running her fingers through his hair in adoration. Chion didn't move.

The car ride was uneventful, as Sen chose to partake in the particularly boring activity of staring outside the window at the passing urban and suburban landscapes slowly morphing into more rural, countryside areas, and finally in what seemed like in the middle of absolutely nowhere, the tall, Gothic spires of Minamizawa Academy punctured the gray, overcast sky. The buildings in themselves looked more like Gothic church steeples, the main colors being a contrasting split black and white. Chion slowed the car, pulling it into the drive in front of the main building and stopping suddenly. Sen rushed herself as she gathered her bags, practically running up to the tall, thick doors and shifting her weight from foot to foot anxiously as she waited for Ami, who had insisted on having a mini make out session before going to check Sen in.

The inside was entirely different from the one that she had entered before, a tall, immense lobby area with elegant marble flooring and images of cherubs on the ceilings, the heavenly mural interrupted only by the occasional gleaming chandelier. Sen thought back to how long it had been since she'd been to the academy—four weeks. They couldn't have possibly remodeled this exquisitely in four weeks. But she pushed the thought aside, remembering that the academy was ridiculously wealthy, and instead wondered why Takumi would even consider placing it in such a boring and unexciting place as Minamizawa.

"Hirotani Sen-san," Ami said, and Sen looked up curiously before realizing that she and Ami were standing before the headmaster's assistant's desk, Ami tapping her long, black, pointed fingernails on the polished marble.

The assistant looked up sharply, peering over the edge of the high desk at Sen. Realization crossed her face, and she grinned. "You're Takumi-sama's daughter!"

Sen nodded weakly. "Did you…remodel?" She asked finally. "It seemed different when I came here before."

The assistant stared at her in confusion before grinning again. "Sure did! The other office just seemed so bland."

Sen frowned, still not seeing how it was earthly possible to remodel that fast, but turned away.

-

Sen turned down another long corridor and sighed to herself. At this rate, her classroom would be completely impossible to find. The school was just so _big_ it was a wonder that getting lost wasn't a daily thing for most students. She clutched her new uniform and pushed the door to a supposedly empty room open.

"I said TAKE IT OFF!"

Sen blinked rapidly at the scene before her.

It was two girls, one with black hair and one with orange. The black haired girl was standing behind the other, holding her arms in the air and attempting to pull off her clothes. The orange-haired girl was sitting on the floor, making a great fuss over being undressed.

The great sense of recognition reared its ugly head—the orange haired girl…was Sohma Tomo.

Tomo glanced over at the door in fear, and her gaze landed on an extremely shocked Sen. "NNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!" She shouted loudly.

Sen quickly slammed the door shut, leaning against the other side, eyes widened around tenfold. Before she had time to wonder what was going on, the door flew open and the black-haired girl stepped out. She was wearing a black leotard that flattered her thin shape perfectly, highlighting her chest considerably. She was wearing fishnet tights and stiletto heels, and there was a cat ear headband in her hair.

"You're looking for Tomo-chan, aren't you?" The girl asked excitedly, flipping her waist length hair. "I'm Sohma Tsuruyo."

"Are you…?" Sen started, and then shook her head.

"Possessed by the zodiac curse?" Tsuruyo finished. Sen looked up at her, startled. Tsuruyo shook her head. "Nah, I'm not in it. But I know about it." She turned suddenly and pranced into the room. "Come on out, Tomo-chan!"

Tomo was pulled out of the room by her arm, and the quickly brought her arms together in front of her chest. She was wearing a white leotard of the same nature as Tsuruyo's, with purple tights and a frilly white headband.

"Kawaii!" Tsuruyo squealed, then grabbed Tomo's wrist and sprinted off down the hallway.

Sen stared after them, and then shook her head and went into the room, shutting and locking it behind her. She unfolded the clothes and laid them out on the table. The top was black, lines of light gray where the seams were that brought together at sharp points where the lines intersected, with spiky rose-shaped buttons. The skirt was simple, black and pleated, and the shoes were Gothic combat boots with twenty-two eyelets—she'd counted.

The clothes were crisply ironed—nothing short of a rich school uniform.

As she left the room, she set out on the infamous quest to reach her classroom, glad for the fact that it was lunchtime and she wouldn't be missed for at least another fifteen minutes.

"KORA!" Someone shouted angrily. Sen looked up to see a large stampede of boys in sports ware running for their lives from a small, skinny boy with inky black hair and ice blue eyes, choppy layers ranging in length from the back of his head and some in the front. His eyes were narrowed with anger. Sen hastily stepped to the side as the mob passed, the boy slowing down next to her. She peered over at the boy and felt her face flush. It was a girl—in the boys' uniform. Did people really not notice it?

"Who are you supposed to be?" The _girl _asked moodily.

"Hirotani Sen."

Realization crossed her face. "You're Hirotani-sensei's daughter?"

"Adopted daughter," Sen corrected. "You are?"

"Kingyo Kaoru."

Sen sweat dropped. "Goldfish-senpai…?"

Kaoru looked over slowly, hostility cascading off of her in thick, almost visible waves. Her once ice-blue eyes were shining a furious read, the all famous vortex swirling behind her and making her look even more sinister. "Don't. Ever. Call. Me. That." She hissed darkly. If looks could kill, Sen would be dead and rotten three hundred feet below ground.

"G-Gomen," Sen stammered.

-

"Why did you choose to be born here?" The girl implores, and I am compelled to answer. She made my body out of scrap pieces of metal she found lying around this empty world.

"You were lonely, here." That is my reply.

"I suppose that I was," she agrees.

It was difficult, yet the girl would stay with me as she attempted to adjust me, to make me sufficient enough to work properly. Speech functions and movements took the longest. Yet now I am complete, perfect.

Now, I have a purpose.

-

"How was your first day?" Takumi asked.

Sen looked up from her dinner plate. "Interesting." She told him, knowing that it was an understatement.

-

"You'll be leaving soon, won't you?" I ask of the girl, and her sad nod is her reply.

She will be born in a different world.

A world where she can coexist with her zodiac—that is where she is going.

To be with her dolls.

* * *

A/N: I'm really sorry it took so long, but a friend of mine pulled a suicide attempt and wound up in the hospital, and while he was there the idiot tried to SWALLOW a SPORK. Forgive me on behalf of the spork-swallower!


	7. Chapter 6

AUTHER'S NOTE HOLY OHMYGOD!

Okay, so I think there was a lot of confusion in the last chapter.

First:

1. Kaoru isn't a Sohma. Her last name is Kingyo, and the people she was chasing were calling her Goldfish-senpai because it pisses her off. Kingyo means goldfish in Japanese.

(She does actually have a role in this—it's coming up.)

(The Minamizawa Academy students aren't too stupid to realize she's actually a girl. Sen is a smart cookie.)

2. I totally forgot to define tora! I SHOULD GO PULL AN ETSU AND JUMP OFF A BUILDING! Noooo! Tora means tiger.

3. Hoshikami-sama is coming! Yay! –SEIZURE- She isn't Etsu, sadly…

4. I've been waiting for someone to shout, "HOW THE HELL DID ETSU MANAGE TO DIE IF ALL THE OTHER OUTSIDERS HAVEN'T AGED AND CAN'T DIE, YOU IDIOT?" And then hit me in the face with a large fish tank. I think I just gave something away.

5. Tomo isn't the monkey…or the second tiger…or the ram…or the WACKY WAVING INFLATABLE ARM FLAILING TUBE MAN. (What?) She is the…you'll find out in chapter seven.

6. I. Am an idiot. In Death Wish where I said that Fruits Basket probably takes place on Shikoku, I meant Honshu. That wasn't in the last chapter, but I noticed it.

7. "He could use you, Saku." NOO! DAMN YOU, MICROSOFT WORD! That was supposed to say SHE!

THE END.

* * *

Houses and shrines of the village flew past in the car window as though set on fast-forward, the shape of a child's hand cutting into the scene due to being pressed against the window she stared out of, eyes on the edge of closing, when suddenly they snapped open at the driver's saying something. 

"Are you nervous, Saku-chan?"

Saku blinked at the back of his seat, and then grinned. "I'm fine."

"Did you know that the previous wolf and owl liked each other very much?" The driver asked. Saku's grin widened, eyes bright with hopefulness. "I'm sure that you and (1) fukurō-san will be friends."

"Shige-san,"

(If you aren't savvy on Japanese names, it's not pronounced like SHYG. It's SHEE-gay. No supposedly humorous "She gay?" cracks at that one or I will kill you.)

The driver only nodded.

-

By the time they entered Minamizawa, the sun was setting, creating a hot and humid atmosphere with the cicadas chirping loudly. The car slowed to a stop, and Saku quickly peered out the window, spotting a two-story house partially hidden by the forest it was located in.

"Is this where I'll be living?" She asked curiously. She unbuckled herself and reached for the door handle. Instantly the doors locked. Saku looked at the driver, startled.

"Listen to me very carefully," he hissed. "In Minamizawa you are Ajibana Saku. You are the heir to the Ajibana shrine, and your family members are dead. You are not a Sohma, here. If they find out about you, horrible things will happen. Do you understand?"

Saku nodded fearfully. (2) "W-Watshi wa Ajibana Saku," she recited nervously. "H-Hajimemashite."

"The girl that you are living with is Niijima Shige." The driver told her. "If you dare to address each other publicly by the name of Sohma, you are putting yourself in danger. The wolf before you has already died, so they say. That's a lie. Find her, and do whatever it takes to keep her safe. She's older than you, around eighteen, but after what happened to her body after the fall she may act silly and stupid—_keep her safe_. Bring her home unscathed. You will have exactly three minutes to get into the house. There are most likely the Yakuta hiding in the trees. Don't give them time, they will shoot you."

Saku only nodded in horror.

"Now go." He instructed. The doors unlocked, and with trembling fingers she opened the door, and clambered out of the vehicle.

At the edge of the woods, standing silently and looking miniscule next to the magnitude of the forest, Niijima Shige stood. Her hair was pure white and reached her jaw, though it was voluminous and puffed out, a black headband in her hair. Her blue eyes were darkened with something Saku could not determine from her distance. Slowly, she made her way across the dirt road to Saku, silent as ever. Together they stood, looking quite hopeless, around the back of the car, waiting for the okay to go into the house. The driver finally waved at them, and Shige practically ran for her life, arms flailing, not stopping until she nearly hit the house, Saku following behind her at nearly the same pace though tripping often due to her shakes from terror.

Saku's small fingers trembled as she fumbled for the right key, dropping them often. Finally, as she found the right one, she put it in the lock and had to start over. Finally, the lock clicked, and a gunshot rang out through the trees as Saku threw the door open and they shot into the house.

Saku leaned against the door, slumping downward until she was sitting on the floor panting, Shige in the same position against the wall. Saku was startled to see Shige clutching at her head, eyes wide and horrified.

(3) "Nii-nii," she whispered in terror. (4) "Tasukete…"

"Shige-san!" Saku cried, pulling Shige's hands away.

Shige looked up at her, suddenly having snapped out of her stupor. Her eyes were as dark as before, grief clouded over them. That's what it was. "Why did they try to shoot us?"

Saku shook her head. "The man who drove me here told me that they probably would, but I don't know why."

Shige suddenly jumped up to where Saku was standing, and put her hands on Saku's face, staring at one of her eyes in shock and surprise. "Your eye! What happened to your eye?" She asked worriedly.

Saku looked away. "It's been this way for a long time." She smiled sadly and pointed to her left eye. "I can't see out of this one."

"Did it hurt?" Shige asked, releasing Saku and tilting her head to the side. "It's all pale—it looks like it hurt."

Saku shook her head. "I used to get bad headaches on the left side of my head. I think it might have been where I got hit by something, and then I just remember waking up in a hospital all kowai, kowai desu." She shivered. "And I could only see here." She pointed to her right eye.

Shige only stared at her sympathetically.

-That night-

"Koyuu," Saku murmured into the darkness, sitting on the windowsill, silhouetted by the moonlight. Her typically high voice was entirely different, octaves lower. She peered around the room, eyes narrowed, and finally a semitransparent form appeared.

It was a young girl, the age of Saku, with pale periwinkle-lavender hair, that fell, textured, to the middle of her back. There were two black cloth ornaments in her hair, and she wore the outfit of a (5) miko. She sat cross-legged on the floor, biting her lip nervously.

"Saku-chan?" Koyuu replied. She spoke in the voice that Saku typically used.

"What day is it?" Saku murmured, leaning back against the wall and staring at her empty place in the futon next to a sleeping Shige.

"April thirteenth," Koyuu replied quietly, staring at the floor with a guilty expression.

"I have more time than last time." Saku remarked lightly, tapping her fingers on the glass of tea she held. Her gaze slid over to Koyuu, and she picked up the bowl of wasabi peas…

…And dumped them all into her mouth.

(A/N: Unless you're crazy, I don't suggest trying that one. Wasabi peas are SPICY.)

Koyuu's eyes widened considerably and she fell onto her back, kicking her feet in the air and flailing her arms. "NOO! IF YOU EAT ALL THOSE AT ONCE I'LL…I'LL…" She looked over at Saku in terror as Saku brought the glass of tea to her mouth and chugged it. "NOO!" Koyuu screamed. "THAT WILL ONLY MAKE IT WORSE!"

"Then by now, you should realize that our senses and emotions are linked. Stop feeling so depressed."

Koyuu brought herself back into a sitting position and pouted. "But I'm tired of this same cycle."

Saku turned her head toward Shige again as she gave a small mumble in her sleep, and then turned back to Koyuu. "I am, as well. But there's nothing we can do about it, _Hoshikami_."

"Koyuu!" Koyuu whined. "My name is Koyuu!"

"But considering that I'm the only one who can see you, you can't be sensitive to the name Hoshikami," Saku scolded. "That's what they call you—they would never obey if I told them to call you Koyuu."

Koyuu only pouted more profoundly.

Saku sighed. "This time I only have confidence in the fact that we'll live through the night." She stared blankly at Koyuu. "Right?"

Koyuu nodded solemnly.

"What is it?" Saku asked exasperatedly. "You're feeling depressed again."

"You won't live until the festival," Koyuu whispered. "You won't, but Shige-san will."

"So ka." Saku muttered. She caught sight of Koyuu's expression and sighed. "How is it going to happen, this time?"

Koyuu only said one word. "Yakuta."

Saku's eyes flashed. "It never changes, does it…?" She glared at the floor. "I'm going to sleep while I have enough time for _humanity_ to do it."

"Oyasumi-nasai," Koyuu put in weakly.

"Oyasumi." Saku replied.

-

Saku looked up at the overcast gray sky and sighed, tightening her grip on the straps of her backpack. She wore a black skirt that fell an inch before her knees with suspenders and a plain white shirt, white slouchy socks and black dress shoes. Shige was wearing a green knee-length sailor style dress, black tights, and white dress shoes. They walked in silence, the chirp of birds and bubbling of the stream creating a rhythmic pattern.

"Aren't you nervous?" Shige asked, her low and remorseful voice concerned. "You're new, after all."

Saku shook her head and smiled. "I'll be fine, don't worry about me. You're with me."

Shige nodded.

"Doesn't your Nii-nii go to this school?" Saku asked.

Shige stopped dead in her tracks and dropped her bag, not watching as it fell to the dirt road ground. Her eyes were wide, and she stood as stiff and still as a statue. Saku bit her lip and picked up Shige's bag, dusting it off and holding it out to her. Slowly and mechanically, Shige took it, clutching it to her chest.

"I'm sorry," Saku murmured. "I didn't mean to offend you."

Shige looked up and gave her a sad smile. "It's alright."

As they entered the school building, there was only one student in the small front hallway, slipping on his school shoes. His hair was pale blonde, eyes a dull gray and with the same remorseful, grieving stupor as Shige.

Saku blinked up at him. "Setsushi?"

Shige jerked around to face Saku; expression hurt and betrayed, and then noticed the boy looking over at her.

She nodded at him and then pushed past him up the small three steps, running to the classroom.

-Lunchtime-

Setsushi got up from his seat silently and made for the door, pace slow and unhurried.

"Setsushi-kun!" Kai, a girl with black hair and green eyes called. He glanced over at her slowly. She stood up and held up her bento. "Let's eat together?" She suggested.

Setsushi sighed and turned away. "I've already told you, Kai-san. I want to be alone during lunch hour."

Kai sat back down as he left the room. Shortly after there was a small crash and the loud sound of crying. She looked over to see Niijima Shige covering her face with her arms and sobbing, and her gaze traveled to the bento that lay on the floor, its contents spilled. Shige was sitting next to it, fingers spotted with sauce as though she had been trying to pick it up. Her eyes narrowed in frustration, and she stood up.

"It's okay," a classmate was assuring Shige.

"Yeah, I'll split mine with you." Another added.

"Help me! Help me Nii-nii!" Shige wailed.

Kai swiftly shoved the rice and sushi back into the pink container and grabbed Shige's hair, digging her fingernails into her scalp, and forced her to look up. In one swift movement, she threw her into a nearby set of desks. She looked up at Kai in confusion and betrayal.

"Can't you understand what he's going through?" Kai demanded.

"Help…" Shige cried. "Nii-nii!"

Kai only grew more furious, and she grabbed Shige by the arms and threw her against another group of desks. Shige only cried louder, and Kai took nearby notebooks and folders and threw them at her. The rest of the class stared in horror and surprise.

"It's because you're like that!" Kai hissed. "Do you think that by crying your Nii-nii will come save you?"

"Nii-nii!" Shige wailed again.

"SHUT UP!" Kai shouted, throwing a binder. "Setsushi-kun has enough problems to worry about, he doesn't need you to make it worse! That's why you don't live with him—you are wearing him out! If it's so difficult for you to live without your Nii-nii, then die! You'd be better off dead! Setsushi-kun would be so much better off if you weren't here! DIE!" At this she took a chair from a desk and raised it over her head, preparing to strike.

Saku ran into the room and threw herself in front of Shige. "Don't bully Shige!" She cried. "She's suffering!"

"I'm teaching her not to be so self-centered," Kai argued. "And if you want to interfere I'll start with smashing your head in!"

The door flew open and Setsushi ran in, pushing Kai backward. Her balance wavered and she fell to her knees, the chair coming down with a crashing sound. Setsushi cradled Shige, and then turned his head to glare scathingly at Kai.

"What is the meaning of this, Kai?" He demanded. "What did she do? What did Shige do to you?"

"I-I…" Kai whispered.

"We already get enough trouble at home!" Setsushi hissed. "Why are you being just as cruel to us as they are?"

-

"Are you alright?" Saku asked. Shige nodded.

They were walking home after school, the cicadas chirping in the late afternoon sun and a gold tinted glow thrown across Minamizawa, casting long and eerie shadows. The market stand that they were filling burlap sacks from had red paper lanterns lit, hanging from the eaves. When the sacks were full of potatoes, carrots, things of that nature, Shige took out the small wallet that contained the amount of money shared between them, and searched for the correct amount of money. The coins slipped through her trembling fingers and scattered on the ground, and Saku quickly made to pick them up, but in an instant noticed someone else already taking them into their hands.

"Those are…" Saku's voice trailed off as the stranger handed the coins to her, and in the light of the lantern she noticed the features of the helpful citizen.

It was a young woman, around eighteen and beautiful, with skin as pale as the moon. Her eyes were a wild copper color, and her neat jet black hair trailed behind her on the ground, a few incredibly long strands falling over her right shoulder as she had bent down to pick up the change. Saku stared into her eyes, entranced and thinking quickly of the descriptions of a certain woman she'd heard of.

A woman rumored to be dead.

"Etsu-san?"

* * *

Etsu cocked her head to the side, clearly confused. "Who?" 

"Etsu-san!" Saku persisted. "That's your name isn't it?"

Etsu only shook her head.

And then the words of the driver came to mind. Saku relaxed slightly as the realization settled in. It was the right person, of course, but she didn't remember herself. She'd thrown herself from a building nearly thirty years ago—and due to the bond from Koyuu she had managed to survive. The story after that was unknown, and Saku wasn't going to let her mind wander and come up with a crazy anthology like that she had been taken in by a pack of wolves and raised as a mature feral child.

Saku shook her head. "Would you like to have dinner with us?" She nodded toward Shige, who was paying for the vegetables.

Etsu nodded unsurely.

-

The kitchen was filled with the smell of the food on the stove, Shige standing on a small stepstool in order to be able to stir the soup in the large pot, the only one they could find. The low table was set for three, Etsu being the only one sitting there seeing as Saku was bustling about the kitchen digging through the cupboards for spices and handing ingredients to Shige when she needed them. Finally, both of the girls sighed loudly and Shige switched off the stove, picking up the pot with a Herculean effort and putting it on another burner in order to let the other cool. Saku rubbed the back of her knees weakly and took the three bowls, setting them on the stove for Shige to fill.

"Itadakimasu," the three chorused, Shige and Saku's statements weak and breathless from the urgent preparation.

Saku peered across the table at Etsu. "What is your name?" She asked finally. Etsu looked up, holding the spoon with her teeth. She pointed to herself and cocked her head to the side. Saku nodded.

Etsu took the spoon with two fingers, twirling it around in her hand. "Hanshin."

There was an awkward silence in which Shige and Saku severely sweat dropped.

(Hanshin meaning a rebellious spirit.)

"So…desu ka…?" Saku muttered.

("Is…that so…?")

Etsu nodded. "Hanshin."

"Are you sure it's not Etsu?" Shige asked, having been filled in by Saku.

"No," Etsu murmured wistfully. "I would never want to be called happy tuna."

There was another sweat drop. "That's not what 'Etsu' means at all…" Shige and Saku muttered in dry unison.

(Etsu means delight.)

"Who named you Hanshin?" Saku asked weakly.

"I did." Etsu stated smugly.

"Why?"

There was a silence, and then Etsu grinned widely. "Hanshin."

Shige and Saku fell backward onto the floor.

(A traditional Japanese table is low and you sit on the floor to eat, as I think most of you know. It'd be rather painful to fall over onto the floor at a typical American table.)

"Can we find a new name for you?" Saku attempted.

"Sure!" Etsu agreed gleefully.

"How about Etsu?" Saku volunteered. Etsu shook her head.

"I'm not a happy tuna." She said in a small voice, knocking on her head with a fist.

"I think we should call her baka." Shige muttered under her breath.

"Shige…" Saku muttered.

"Bakami." Shige corrected. "If we didn't call her 'stupid beauty' people would wonder."

"Kii," Saku tilted her head to the side. "How does that sound?"

Etsu blinked at her, and then grinned. "Okay!"

-

"She's like a child," Saku murmured, her voice brought lower again as Koyuu was revealed. They sat side by side on the windowsill. "She has something against her name…"

Koyuu nodded. "Sora-san would cry if he saw her, though. She doesn't look like his Etsu-san."

Saku shook her head. "No…I was only able to recognize her by those eyes. Eyes of the wolf."

Koyuu stared over Saku's shoulder. "I chose you as the wolf so that you would be with me. I knew I could trust you. All the while there were really two wolves, but not truly because this version of Minamizawa will keep repeating itself until we get it right. While it was 2007 in Etsu's time before she 'died', it was the spring and summer of that year in Minamizawa. But no one noticed it. If they came here, they would see Minamizawa as it is going to be once we correct this. Now they only see it as it is currently—and if they stay they get thrown into the repetition. But we change the date, now."

Saku nodded. "When will the previous Outsiders die?"

"As soon as they find a way to break their curse." Koyuu explained sadly. "I don't have the ability to let them go—they have to do it themselves."

"But what if it turns to murder? They'll kill each other!" Saku exclaimed.

"There isn't anything we can do about it." Koyuu concluded. "Sora's decision to die after one year was a very bad one. It will probably be very inconvenient for him, and he won't be able to stop it. Now that we have a hold on Etsu-san, he might fall in love with her if he can get her memories back. It won't be easy, but he may be able to do it. Imagine, right at the final moment she remembers it all, he could die. It is all a matter of time."

Saku sighed. "I just hope that it won't end sadly."

"It will," Koyuu murmured. "Death is never a happy ending."

"Speaking of death," Saku sighed. "How many days do I have left?"

"Three." Koyuu said sadly. "Only three."

Saku's teeth clenched together. "Where did the time go?" She asked rhetorically, and then shrugged. "At least next time I won't have to face the introductions again. It will be new Minamizawa, right?"

"Yes." Koyuu bit her lip. "But the new Minamizawa is even worse. We'll be repeating the sequence quicker than usual due to the curse they think is mine."

"Hanshin isn't just a name…is it?"

Koyuu shook her head. "No."

* * *

OOOH SPOOKY! 

1 - owl

2 - I am Ajibana Saku. How do you do?

3 and 4 - Onii san means older brother. Here Shige is childishly doubling 'onii' and shortening it to 'Nii-nii'. It says, Nii-nii...help me...

5 - Miko are shinto priestesses. They wear flowing crimson skirts that look like voluminous pants (called hakama) and a white top that looks like part of a kimono, but isn't. (If you're not getting a good enough image - google it! Google is mmaaggiicaall...)


	8. Chapter 7

* * *

A/N: Finally

A/N: Finally. God knows this only took me like three years to finish…

Kiki-cchi. That is the name of death. Poor, abused Yukio-kun…

You know what? I was going to get some serious writing done as soon as spring break started. I said to myself, "Listen here, Malicious. Do you smell that? That is the smell of FREE TIME. NOW GO WRITE!"

And I didn't do anything.

I've noticed that as I began to write about her less and less, I began to mess up Sen's personality. She's not really as Mary Sue-like as she seems, trust me. Let's see if I can get it right in this one…

Venom says that Daisuke is her man. Silence says that Ichigo is her man. Since I hadn't claimed one yet, they told me to make a man for me. So lo and behold, Onokori Zero was born. I was a little nervous about using the name, at first, because his character already resembles the Zero from Vampire Knight. BUT I DID ANYWAY. HAHAHA!

Warnings: BLOOD AND GORE! HAHAHA!

Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Knight. God knows I should have put this on earlier, what with all the characters mine mimic.

* * *

"_Azami-oneechan!"_

The young, white-haired girl turned slowly to see her mirror image chasing after her frantically, tears streaming down her face. Her fancy blue dress was in ruins, muddy and ripped, and her hair was tangled and the ornaments had long-since fallen out. Azami turned around fully and caught her twin in an embrace.

"_Baka Kazashi." She muttered. "Why did you follow me?"_

_The other, Kazashi, looked up at her sister and frowned. "Because I love you, Azami-oneechan."_

I didn't understand it at first.

Kyoumi sighed, opening her eyes and staring up at the ceiling, relishing the sound of rainfall as it reached her ears, and glanced over at her alarm clock. It read four oh three in the morning. She sighed again, sitting up slowly and fixing the spaghetti strap of her white tank top that had slid further down onto her shoulder during the sleepless night haunted by memories and the constant sound of raindrops pelting against the windowpane, claps of thunder growing louder and nearer all the time, flashes of lightning illuminating the room for a second like a strobe light.

She pushed her hair back over her right shoulder, narrowing her eyes when she allowed her head to fall forward, the same few pestering locks sliding over again. She stared off miserably into the darkness of her large bedroom, and then looked down at her crossed legs, green short-shorts, hands lying palm-up on the bed next to her knees. She drew her hands forward, staring at their unchanged palms, the small scar on the back where…

_"Let him go!"_

_"For what, Azami? You're the last one who should be able to tell me what to do! You are just so perfect, aren't you?"_

_"This isn't about me." Azami hissed furiously._

_"It's about your precious animal, isn't it? This stupid fox you found?" The boy teased._

_"Let him go!" Azami ordered again. The boy held the fox by the nape of its neck, grinning evilly._

_"This is your sin for not being human. Youji, hold her back."_

_"I am human!" Azami argued._

_"Humans don't turn into animals. You're just a monster."_

_Another one of the boys stepped forward, sliding his arms under hers and pulling upward and back and locking them in the position, forbidding her from moving._

_"Now watch as we punish it!"_

_The speaker of the group, Tani, held the same wicked grin and dumped the flowers and water out of a nearby vase, dropping the fox to the floor and resting a foot on its back to hold the poor animal down, replacing his foot with his hand, pushing it down and raising the vase above his head. Azami watched in terror as he beat the fox._

_"Let it go!" She cried in horror._

_"Look!" Tani marveled. "It causes her more pain to see this stupid thing get hurt than it does if we just beat her up!"_

_He continued the beating, blood pooling around the fox as it weakened, finally closing its eyes and moving no more. Tani frowned down at it and continued beating as though trying to get the most pain and suffering out of Azami as possible. Azami attempted to turn her head, but one of the only boys only struck her across the face until she stared back at it, continuing to do the same if she shut her eyes. Tani finally stopped and dropped the bloody vase, unsatisfied._

_"That was boring. It died too fast." He complained, glancing over at the seething Azami._

_"The ones who aren't human…" she muttered, head lowered. "ARE YOU!" she screamed, and in one swift movement brought her leg back and kicked Youji in the stomach, drawing a knife from a pocket in her skirt and plunging it into his throat, quickly yanking it out and sprinting across the room to Tani. She kicked him over, holding him down with one foot as she stabbed repeatedly, sometimes missing his skin and instead piercing her own hand. The largest, most furious one was the only stab that had left a mark._

_"Onee-chan!"_

_Azami turned around rapidly to see Kazashi standing in the doorway with an appalled expression. She quickly threw the knife to the ground, backing away from the body. Kazashi slowly walked across the room, passing Azami and picking the bloody knife up from the ground. Azami stared at her in confusion that quickly turned to shock as Kazashi raised the knife and stabbed, creating an uncannily similar mark on her left hand, the same as Azami's._

_"We have to be the same." She explained._

Kyoumi shook her head in disgust. That was the past—it didn't matter anymore.

She directed her attention again to the window. There was still hope, somewhere. It looked impossible through the dismal glass, strewn with raindrops in resemblance to teardrops thrown from the dark gray clouds coating the azure sky, turning it to a melancholy gray. She glanced over at the alarm clock that now read four fifteen. She stared at the 'fifteen' a little longer than needed.

_"Like I told you, One Five-kun, it's fate."_

She hissed under her breath, glaring daggers at the clock and directing her vision elsewhere, groping around in the darkness for the television remote for the plasma screen on the wall opposite the one the head of her bed was against. She found it, flicking the television on and quickly flipping through channels, switching it off again in around two minutes when it became clear that there was nothing interesting on. Kyoumi fell backward onto the pillow, slinging an arm over her eyes and adjusting her elbow joint to rest on the bridge of her nose.

She hadn't seen Ichigo in months.

At first…he was nothing to me.

He was the one that she loved. He was the one that she would always tell me about. When she died, I had to pretend for her. I had to force myself to love him. I had to force myself to be her, so that no one would ever know she was gone.

Even if she wouldn't have wanted it that way.

Kyoumi sat back up again, hanging her head in depression.

If she ever came back, I would be in ruins. At first, I expected that I would play pretend for my entire life. No one would ever know that I was not she. I would remove all evidence that there had ever been two of us, and I would become what she was. I would wear what she did, talk like she did, I would be her. The only part that would be different would be Ichigo-kun. I would not love him as she did.

But it turned out like that, anyway.

I didn't plan on loving him, and now I've driven him away completely.

She thought back to the last time she had spoken to him, recapping it in her mind.

-Flashback-

"Kyoumi." Ichigo stared at her seriously.

"Hai?" She asked in reply.

"When you were in the cat's room…what did they do to you?"

Kyoumi grew still and quiet, and she looked down at her feet. "That doesn't matter." She told him simply. Ichigo ground his teeth together.

"It does matter, damn it!" He growled angrily. Kyoumi looked up at him, emotionless.

"It was in the past." Kyoumi muttered. "Like I said, it doesn't matter." She sighed and tilted her head upwards. "I'll tell you anything you want to know…except that."

Ichigo sighed in defeat and slumped against the wall, crossing his arms over his chest and frowning. "I've never seen your true form." He told her. Kyoumi jerked a turn to stare at him with wide eyes.

She closed her eyes, opening them again slowly. She stood, hands traveling to a small golden chain around her neck that Ichigo had never noticed before. She unclasped it and let it fall to the floor by her feet. Ichigo stared at her in disbelief, waiting for some sort of evolution to take place.

Nothing happened. Time passed before, after around three minutes, Kyoumi picked up the necklace again and put it back on.

"I don't have one—I'm just a copy, remember?" She told him. "I've never even seen an outsider's true form."

Ichigo was blank, not making eye contact. "You don't want to." He replied finally.

"Ichigo-kun," Kyoumi murmured. Ichigo glanced at her. "I have a question for you, now." She sat back down, pulling her knees up to her chest and resting her forehead on them.

"So what is it?" Ichigo asked impatiently.

"Do you love me," Kyoumi hesitated. "Or do you hate me?"

He froze, struck speechless by the question. How was he supposed to answer that? If she wanted him to hate her, should he go with the former? If she wanted him to love her, what happened if he said the latter? It wasn't an easy question—she hadn't explained what form of love she meant. He remembered the day he'd seen her in the courtyard years ago, when they were children.

"But I remembered something."

"What?" He asked, glaring at her.

"Since we're both the fox, we have to be together. We're the same—like twins, almost. So we have to try."

"Try what?"

"Ichigo-san!" Kyoumi scolded. "I love you!"

Ichigo sighed. He might as well get it over with. "Yeah, sure…the first one." He muttered in a humiliated tone.

Kyoumi looked up slowly. Her typically light brown eyes were a bright silver. "Usotsuki." She whispered. (1)

He frowned at her, clearly annoyed. "Then what the hell do you want me to say?"

She only shook her head. "Go."

-End-

She glanced over at the large window again, seeing that nothing had changed on the balcony. Slowly, she stepped down from the bed and went over to the glass windows/doors, unlatching it slowly and stepping outside. Instantly she stepped into a puddle, making the wood smooth and slippery beneath her bare feet. She went to the edge, leaning out over the classical white marble layout of the balcony, feeling the misty rain on her face and the fierce winds thrash her hair to and fro, the humidity both choking and calming at the same time. The world outside was foggy, illuminated every few seconds. Kyoumi stepped back into the room, letting the large black curtains be thrown around by the wind as she went to her dresser. She pulled out a familiar well-fitted black satin dress, the skirt mid-thigh length and puffy due to the layers of white netting and crisply creased black chiffon. Slowly, she hurried out of her now-damp clothes and slipped the dress on with black tights and white, knee-high, Goth Lolita boots, and headed for the door, taking a black umbrella on her way out.

She knew where Ichigo lived—she'd been there before. As she walked, quickening her pace after slumping back into a slow, melancholy speed, she ignored the faint stinging of the freezing rain and thrashing winds, the annoyance of her hair as it whipped about, tainting her vision as it flew menacingly into her face. Finally, when the miniature roman-numbered pocket clock, an old one passed down through her family, read five oh three, she found herself standing at his door.

And she regretted it instantly.

Before she had time to consider what she might be doing, she reached out a hand and knocked on the door sharply, quickly withdrawing her fist and bringing it to her side, waiting almost impatiently for him to open the door. After a few minutes with no reply, she sighed, and rattled the modern style doorknob, twisting it after realizing it was unlocked. The door opened with a semi-loud creak, and she quickly stopped it, stepping inside as silently as possible, shutting the door behind her.

_What am I doing?_

She sighed and turned around, opening the door again. She trudged outside, shutting the door behind her. As soon as the door shut, she fell to her knees, covering her face and letting the tears escape freely. A thousand thoughts, desperate and miserable, ran through her mind, the loneliest only making her cry harder as she curled on herself pathetically.

* * *

She didn't notice the sudden light in the window that was covered as a dark curtain was pulled across the window.

_"Why do I only hurt people?"_

_"Where did you hear that?" Such kind word spoken from such a tainted soul._

_"I know it."_

_"Well, then it isn't true."_

_I don't believe you._

_"Ichigo-san!" Kyoumi scolded. "I love you."_

_You don't need me._

_"You may think you understand us but you don't! It's just because you bear the full weight of our curse that you instantly think you know it all when it comes to us! You don't know shit! You think you've got it bad because you're going to die but here's a fucking reminder: we're all going to die someday! You don't know what this is like! You don't know what it's like to have your damn life presented to you on a silver platter then burned to pieces! You don't know what it's like to never be able to love! YOU DON'T KNOW ANYTHING!"_

_I'd rather not know, as well._

Ichigo stared down at Kyoumi's sleeping face. Her expression was crestfallen, face pale and tear streaked as she trembled slightly from being outside in the rain on a cold night, stirring ever so slightly every now and then only to fall back asleep. Slowly, cautiously, Ichigo reached out a hand, running it through her hair. Instantly he stopped himself, glaring up at the ceiling as his face flushed.

_What am I trying to do?_

He stared down at her again through narrowed cyan eyes. When she woke up…he plotted it out in his mind…she'd probably stare a moment and then laugh. Kyoumi was stupid and ditzy most of the time. Or would she just stare awkwardly? Her sudden change in personality was too much to handle, too much of a contrast. She'd be starving, of course. He sighed and stood up, heading into the kitchen. Around twenty minutes of loud clangs and bangs and various other noises that truly sounded rather painful, he slammed a small wooden table down next to her futon. There was a bowl of white rice, a bottle of soy sauce, and a piece of (2) melon bread. Kyoumi had the oddest tastes in food.

Ichigo sat down next to the futon, leaning on the small table with his elbow propped to support his head, which rest on his palm. He stared at her blankly, waiting for her to wake up. When it became apparent, that she would not be waking any time soon, he pushed the table aside and scooted closer to the futon, staring down listlessly at her face. With the same slow, cautious air as before, he brushed his thumb across her lower lip, leaning in slowly.

_"I killed her."_

_Kyoumi's eyes grew wide, pupils dilated. She stared at him in horror few a few nerve-wracking moments, and then stood suddenly, trembling violently. She attempted stammering a few random lines, but then backed out of the room quickly, hurried footsteps indicating that she had run the rest of the way down the hall._

He couldn't do it.

In defeat he let his head fall into the empty space between her neck and her shoulder, bangs covering his shaded-over eyes. That memory was supposed to be gone. He had sworn to himself to forget it, but clearly that hadn't happened. He brought his fist down on the floor, gritting his teeth.

"Ne, Ichigo-kun,"

Ichigo shot into a normal sitting position a good foot away from the futon, face flushed tomato red. He threw the table in front of him, pushing it forward.

Kyoumi was lying completely still as though he hadn't been a disturbance at all. Her eyes were darkened with sadness, reasons unknown, and her expression was the same as when she had been asleep. She stared up at the ceiling blankly, and then her gaze flickered over to the table, and then to Ichigo. She sat up quickly, frowning adorably with a mingled look of worry, concern, and embarrassment.

"If you keep doing that face, you'll look like that forever." Ichigo told her flatly.

"HONTO NI?" ("REALLY?") Kyoumi demanded in astonishment. She held the same stance for a few seconds, and then hung her head in the act of utter stupidity.

Ichigo's face flushed again. "EAT THE FOOD, DAMMIT!"

"Hai!" Kyoumi grinned, snapping the chopsticks and picking up the bowl of rice. She paused mid-bite and cocked her head to the side, confused by Ichigo's wary and angered expression.

"So?" He asked, looking away. "Did I mess it up big time or is it slightly edible?"

Kyoumi stared at him blankly for a second, and then set the bowl and chop sticks down. "I'm sorry for causing you trouble like this…" Her voice cracked.

Ichigo groaned and threw his head down onto the table in agony. "Why are you crying?" He asked weakly through gritted teeth.

Kyoumi looked up suddenly, wiping the tears away. "Let's go to the New Years banquet tomorrow. I want to meet all of the new zodiac."

Ichigo scrutinized her expression, and then sighed passively. "Fine."

* * *

Sen pushed open the door of her bathroom, listening to the echo of her footsteps that rang out against the silence in the large, spacious room. She set down a towel, hair dryer, and brush down on the counter, and stepped over to the large shower, turning it on and walking back to the counter in order to give it time to heat to the setting she'd turned it to. She pulled off her shirt, throwing it to the counter in the heap that was growing, followed by her skirt. At the exact moment that she reached for the clasp of her bra, the door creaked open.

In shock, she tore the towel from the counter and threw it over herself protectively, shooting a death glare to whoever had just walked in the door.

It was a boy with a thin frame, pale skin pairing with the tinsel-like silver color of his hair, inky black underneath it. His equally silver eyes were narrowed and glaring, unsmiling mouth tight as though he'd gotten in an argument recently. He slammed the door shut behind him, and then glanced up at the counter.

He stared at her blankly.

She stared at him in rage and embarrassment.

And then Malicious screamed adoringly and grabbed him by the hair, pulling him into her underground kinky sex chamber.

Not really. Don't listen to me. O.O

"Who let you in here?" Sen demanded, face flushed. "Who are you, anyway?"

He glared daggers at her and swept over to the counter, looking around until his gaze fell on a textbook sitting in one of the corners that Sen hadn't noticed before. He took it, and exited the room with an angered flourish, slamming the door loudly behind him. Sen frowned, setting down the towel. The bathroom was filled with steam, and she quickly rushed to turn it off. Tons of little knobs and buttons sat before her, stuck into the wall, some for soaps and others for god-knows-what.

"HOW DO YOU WORK THIS DAMN SHOWER?!"

* * *

"Seno-chan," Takumi cooed overdramatically, sweat dropping when Sen pulled a grimace.

The boy from before slumped against the back wall, glaring ahead as usual at nothing in particular.

"This is Onokori Zero!" Takumi introduced cheerfully. "He's going to be living with us and going to school here." Zero's glare grew more profound.

The door flew open with a loud bang. Sen jumped what seemed to be a foot in the air, whereas Takumi and Zero gave no reaction what so ever. Sohma Tsuruyo stood in the doorway, Tomo by her side. Tsuruyo grinned widely with an evil gleam in her eye. She stepped inside overconfidently, pulling Tomo along with her and allowing the door to swing shut behind her.

"Did I hear that there's a NEW STUDENT?" She asked with a smirk. Her eyes traveled to Zero, and she grinned devilishly, pulling a deck of cards from apparently thin air, holding them out triumphantly. "I challenge you to Dai Hin Min!"

Zero looked over, the glare never leaving his eyes, and sighed exasperatedly.

* * *

"Hirotani-kun, please answer question A."

Sen groaned quietly and shifted her position on her section of the long countertop-like row of connected 'desks' resembling one in a college. She dug her face deeper into her crossed arms and brought her chair closer.

"Hirotani-kun,"

"Hirotani-san is asleep." Someone reported.

Sensei sighed. "Onokori-kun, question A."

"Onokori-san is asleep as well."

"Supplementary classes for you two!" Sensei announced. Sen shot up into a sitting position, gaping at him in disbelief.

Zero looked up in annoyance, and then dropped his head back onto the desk, brow furrowed in frustration of being woken up.

When class ended and the rest of the class trickled out the door, Sensei's expression became manic and evil, and he chuckled to himself as he hovered around the door, placing a large padlock on it. Sen cocked her head to the side with a 'he's lost it' expression.

"Now you're trapped here to finish work until you die…" Sensei hissed evilly.

Zero stood slowly, going over to the door silently as Sen and the Sensei stared at him, wondering what he was doing. He picked up the padlock, shaking his head at it, and then lifted his leg and kicked the door. A loud crash sounded as the door fell off its already weak hinges. Zero calmly stepped through the opening and walked away.

"WHERE ARE YOU GOING, ONOKORI-KUN?" Sensei demanded.

Zero turned and landed his steely glare on him. "I don't feel like dying right now. It's New Years Eve. Now leave me alone."

* * *

"Can you let go?" Ichigo demanded of Kyoumi who was tightly clamped onto his arm as though she were afraid he would run away and leave her stranded in the talking sea of Sohma family members. She shook her head defiantly.

As they walked by, she spotted a thin, silver-haired boy in the crowd. She froze, dragging Ichigo to a halt with her. She stared over at him, frowning slightly.

"Is that…Yuki-kun?"

Ichigo shook his head and practically dragged Kyoumi away. "It's the new rat." He muttered. "He's that Yuki kid's close relative or something, I heard. He's got it like hell here." He explained blankly. "Was abused for ten years by his parents who were apparently closely related to rat-haters from the earlier generation.

"So why's he smiling?" Kyoumi asked, confused.

"I don't know." Ichigo replied bitterly. "I don't keep track of people's emotions."

"Maybe he suppresses it," Kyoumi guessed. "Like Malicious."

"SHUT UP!" Malicious bawled in the background. "Just because we don't like to talk about it doesn't make us any less human than you!"

"Who knows?" Ichigo asked rhetorically. "It's like a rat thing or something."

"DAISUKE-KUUUUN!" Someone screamed, shooting through the crowd like a bullet. She hurled herself at a stick-thin boy standing by one of the walls and latched on, smiling hugely. He grinned down at her in that exaggerated anime way. Ha.

Her hair was golden blonde, long straight bangs covering her eyes. Her hair was layered, two locks in the front longer than the rest. She wore black Tripp pants with plaid lining and a plain black short-sleeved shirt. She appeared to be around fifteen years old.

"Hey, Daisuke-kun." Another girl greeted. She was slightly shorter than the other girl, with half black, half dark and slightly faded plum hair, choppy bangs ending at eye length and hanging in her blue eyes. Hers, too, had two longer locks in the front. She wore Tripp pants as well, but with many more metal links and tabs that jingled when she walked and with scarlet lining instead of plaid. She looked to be around the same age as the first girl.

"Kotone-chan, Sono-chan!" He greeted in his usual cheerful, energetic manner.

The blonde, Kotone, gave the other, Sono a high five. Sono lazily rest her arm on Kotone's shoulder, shifting her weight to the right foot. After a short while of talking Sono took her arm off, clasping her hands together and stretching. She gestured to the crowd behind them.

"I'm gonna go talk to some people," she explained. "You know, go see the other zodiac besides you guys. Later, Tori-chan, Ohitsuji-chan." (Bird-chan, Ram-chan)

* * *

Yukio leaned on a wall by one of the staircases, arms crossed and resting on the top of the short wall with his chin resting on them. He heard a faint approaching of footsteps but disregarded it, considering that the main house was full of chattering voices and Inside Sohma laughing it up and having a good time.

And oh how he envied them.

He felt the presence of someone being next to him, and he looked over to see Sohma Sono, leaning with her back against the wall and with her right leg bent and left leg straight, right foot pressing down on her left foot. Her arms were crossed over her chest, and she stared ahead blankly before finally turning and looking at Yukio.

"How's life going these days?" She asked lightly. Yukio stood and turned to be leaning with his side against the wall.

"Same as always." He answered simply. Sono nodded.

"Same here, same here."

Yukio cocked his head to the side slightly. "I heard you were in the hospital recently. Both you and Kotone-san."

Sono looked away. "Yeah," she answered distantly. "Things weren't going too well for us. Family situations were up with Tori-chan, and I was just…ugh." She shook her head in disgust.

"You still won't say anything about it." Yukio mused. "Your emotions." He explained after seeing her confused expression.

She grimaced. "That's just how I am. You're the same way."

Yukio nodded slowly and began to speak, but Sono interrupted.

"Except people mean it when they tell you they care. It's not just 'I'm saying it because I have to' like with Tori-chan and I."

He fell silent, startled by the sudden statement. Sono was glaring now, pale blue eyes narrowed in frustration.

"Sono-san, we all care for you, here. The zodiac does." Yukio attempted halfheartedly. She laughed humorlessly.

"Yeah, yeah. Well, I came to see how you were doing, not to get the 'we love you' lecture-lie for the fiftieth time. I'm out of here." She announced, and then stood straight and headed for the stairs.

"Wait, Sono-san!" Yukio exclaimed, catching her by the shoulder. She froze and turned around expectantly. "I think there is something…I want to talk about…" He admitted. Sono sighed and went back to the wall, sitting down.

"Yeah, what is it?" She asked.

"You'll probably be summoned to go meet Hirotani-san sometime." He told her. "Don't fight with Kyo like you usually do. She can't handle it when people fight."

Sono blinked up at him in surprise at the rather random warning, then she laughed lightly. "Don't tell me you guys are actually beginning to care for her—you and Kyo. You guys are pathetic."

"This isn't about me." Yukio muttered.

"Yeah, yeah." Sono rolled her eyes. "Listen—don't fall in love with her. You know damn well why she's here with us—she's just our trigger. Last time it was that Honda bitch, and she found out how to break it. That's why it's jacked up this time—she broke it before. Now that we know it's possible, we want to try again to get rid of it. We're selfish and greedy, us Sohma." She shook her head. "Like I said, she's just our trigger. We all are being told to test her to see if she's really the one before we _pull it_. She's a tool, Yukio-kun."

"Don't compare Hirotani-san to a weapon."

Sono glared at him. "That's what she is, isn't she? She's our trigger. The gun is aimed at our curse, the target. If we pull the trigger, the target will get shot and die. It's a Sohma-win situation. We've been raised to be selfish and put our own needs before our own. To hate ourselves and have the Outsiders to direct it onto. We're not entirely nice people, Yukio-kun. Come out of that damn denial of yours and admit that we are. You hate Kyo, right? So are you implying that everyone else is forbidden to hate him because it's your job to hate him?" She demanded. "Fine, then. I'm not going to be like them, though. I'd rather hate myself than blame someone else who isn't at fault."

Yukio only stared at her, struck speechless.

"But do you really hate Kyo, Yukio-kun?" Sono asked suspiciously. "Are you sure you aren't just looking for something other than neglect from the rest of the zodiac, and you're sadistically pleased that he shows you hate instead?" She studied his shocked expression. "Or do you want him to accept the truth?"

"What are you talking about?" Yukio asked nervously.

"Face it, snow boy." Sono smirked. (Yukio means snow boy.) "I'm pretty much the only one other than your parents who know you're really—TORI-CHAN!" Sono suddenly screamed, running toward Kotone, who was coming up the stairs.

"Air hump!" Kotone proposed. They both thrust their hips upward, laughing maniacally. She looked back to where Yukio had been so see that he was gone. She shrugged and turned back to Kotone.

_Whom within the center of my jealousy resides. You see me smiling, I see me breaking. That proves me worthless if I can only hurt people in order to protect myself. I still can't hide myself from someone with the same thinking process as me. I can't hide myself from Yukio._

* * *

A/N: I will give a cookie to anyone who can guess who Kotone and Sono are based on. By the way, Sono isn't bitchy; she's strong opinioned and slightly stubborn. Yukio's 'secret' probably isn't what you're thinking.

I have a question for you all. I want to know your favorite Vengeful character, including the Death Wish outsiders. I'm even fine with you saying, 'I HATE THEM ALL. GO JUMP OFF THE EIFFEL TOWER.'

Venom and Alyx had to hit me to get me to write, this time.

Oh, yes, and for a final statement: Love's Last Words, AKA Alyx, is supreme ruler over Ichigo. She has claimed him. Sorry to all who loved him. XDD


	9. Chapter 8

A/N: I have some disease or something that prevents me from writing the eighth chapter. I did a review for chapter 8 in Death Wish, and sadly I'm going to be doing one again. I think this version should be at least a bit more interesting than the Death Wish one…I hope…

THIS CHAPTER HAS BEEN UPDATED! WOO!

Themes/Songs/Whatever. Youtube it, minna-san. (Everyone)

The Whole Story:

Vengeful – Angels on the Moon by Thriving Ivory

Death Wish – I Will Follow You Into the Dark by Death Cab for Cutie

Characters:

Sora – In the Arms of an Angel by Sarah McLachlan

Etsu – Sober by Kelly Clarkson (Suggested by Alyx)

Ichigo – What I've Done by Linkin Park

Naru (not introduced yet) – Chasing Cars by Snow Patrol

Kyoumi – Dear You Cry from Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni (The voice fits her, the lyrics fit her. Wow, what a coincidence.)

Koyuu – Nano Desu by Horie Yui (It's so cute. It's actually the theme of the character she's modeled after. –Sweat drop-)

Saku – 24 Hours by Jem

Sono – Fake It by Seether

Kotone – Hate Me by Blue October

Ami – Dark Blue by Jack's Mannequin

Jun (now introduced as of chapter...nine?) – Emily by From First to Last (Aw. It's what he thinks of Naru.)

Chion – Iris by The Goo Goo Dolls

Yukio – The Kill by 30 Seconds to Mars

Ayase (not introduced yet) – Videotape by Radiohead

Shi – Leave Out All the Rest by Linkin Park

Roku – Who I Am Hates Who I've Been by Relient K

Azami (fully introduced as of recent chapters) – Between by Vienna Teng

Kazashi (fully introduced as of recent chapters) – The Ghost of You by My Chemical Romance (It fits with she and Azami)

Akira (Hardly introduced) – Sorairo by Ritsuko Okazaki

Tomo – The Curse of Curves by Cute Is What We Aim For (HA.)

Sen – On My Own by The Used

Satoru – Cat and Mouse by The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus

Ten (not yet introduced) – The Bird and the Worm by The Used

Kiguna (not yet introduced) - Never is a Promise by Fiona Apple

Pairings:

Satoru and Sen – How To Save a Life by The Fray

Etsu and Sora – Your Guardian Angel by The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus (Etsu being the 'narrator' in the song.)

Ami and Chion – Cat and Mouse by The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus

Kyoumi and Ichigo – It Ends Tonight by The All American Rejects

Kyo and Ten – Make Damn Sure by Taking Back Sunday

Naru and Jun – Light Up the Sky by Yellowcard

Daisuke and Kotone – Gay Boyfriend (Only joking. Don't kill me, Venom.)

And Songs I Really Want To Torture Them Into Singing For All To Behold: (In order of appearance if in a group)

WARNING: These songs may ruin your opinion of the characters involved. If you do not want to picture Etsu singing her proclamation that she is, indeed, a cow, please turn back now.

Yukio, Kyo, Naru (as the person saying 'sandwich' in the background), Sora, Kyoumi – Peanut Butter and Jelly by David Chicken

Etsu – I Am Cow by Arrogant Worms

Ami, Sora, Roku, Kotone, etc. all other blondes – Cause I'm a Blonde by Julie Brown

Chion – Magic Toenail by Brak (Knew he was going to lose it one of these days.)

Akira – Don't Worry Be Happy by Bob Marley

Kyo and Yukio – Kick Your Ass by Brak (HAHA.)

Kaito (with the sole purpose of annoying the hell out of Mineko—not yet introduced), Kotone, and Sono – Big Ass Rock by Monty (I think)

Ichigo – They're Coming to Take Me Away by Dr. Demento

Tomo with Tsuruyo – Fish Heads by Dr. Demento

-X-

Now that your music knowledge has been upped by a lot, how about some SPOILERS? :

_The last dying embers of the sun's light were fading quickly in the setting sunlight, casting an orange-tinted glow over everything in its path and setting it ablaze with crimson tinted light. Long shadows formed behind the two people who stood staring into the sun that was setting over a Minamizawa landscape, displaying sad smiles, and the ringing of the bells from the festival brought nor hopes nor fears in the suddenly peaceful twilight as it became apparent that the war was finally over. As the minutes slurred into hours and stars appeared in the sky, the alabaster moon hanging in the inky black abyss, words were uttered without a second thought. The message was carried through the lips of all those formerly burdened by the atrocities._

_They knew not whom they were speaking to, yet the memories that had left with the departing apparition rung in their minds as they stared at the sky as though it would bring them the answer to why they had given the statement. There came a rustling of the wind that sounded with a ghostly laugh of both happiness and sadness, the two great emotional forces clashing with the chirping of the summer cicadas somewhere nearby._

"_Iterasshai."_

It's a sad but happy ending. Iterasshai is a Japanese term for what you typically say to someone who is leaving. It has many scattered meanings, but the most popular is "come home safe".

-X-

And I really am at loss here for what to put in chapters. I'll just be sitting there like, "Who do people want to read more about?"

I really need suggestions. I'm not a mind reader, so I want to know who you want to read more of. In other words, who's your favorite character?

I wrote a prologue. Finally. If you read it and then come back and read the spoiler, you'll see that they kind of fit together.

So, since I never answered these:

1. Usotsuki means liar.

2. Tomo is the second cat. I really thought the orange hair would give it away…

3. Shi is the dragon, and Roku is the monkey.

-X-

Let's get in the Sohma's heads. IT'S BIO TME.

Ami:

Age: 21

Gender: Female

Hair: Flaxen with black and white underneath

Animal: Tiger (first)

Family: With her father, she's in a family of two. Her mother is dead. More on her family in chapter nine.

Clothing: Mainly gothic

Personality: She's sarcastic and sharp-tongued, with an ultimate soft side for her family and those who she loves.

Bad Habits: Drinking, smoking …She's overall a bar resident. And she is definitely not a good role model. Ha.

Loves: She loves Chion a lot. It was pretty much love at first sight. There's more on this in chapter nine, too.

Hates: She doesn't really hate a lot of people, but she goes into killer mode if another girl holds Chion's attention longer than about five seconds due to their looks.

Chion

Age: 21

Gender: Male

Hair: Chestnut

Animal: Horse

Family: None, as far as he's concerned.

Clothing: He's gothic with Ami.

Personality: He doesn't speak much—he doesn't find it necessary. He actually has a really explosive temper, which he only lets get the best of him when Ami is in danger. He's very protective of her.

Bad Habits: He tends to pull a gun on anyone who threatens or harasses Ami. But with her features, that means a ton of gun pulls.

Loves: He loves Ami, but it's not as obvious considering that he's naturally a quiet stoic type.

Hates: Anyone who dares to do anything to Ami that makes her uncomfortable.

Satoru

Age: 18

Gender: Male

Hair: Black and shaggy

Animal: Dog (first)

Family: With his parents and a younger sister who has yet to be revealed, he's in a family of four.

Clothing: Casual yet dark. The idea of himself wearing bright colors secretly disturbs him.

Personality: He cares deeply for Sen, considering that he's been by her side since they were kids. He tends to avoid anything that involves praise for him, and picks the side that is against him, strangely.

Bad Habits: He has a tendency to be blunt about things and disappoint his 'fans' by downing himself.

Loves: I think it's obvious by now—he loves Sen.

Hates: Does 'himself' count?

Yukio

Age: 15

Gender: Male

Hair: Silver

Animal: Rat

Family: His mother and father, who happen to be rat-haters, and his older sister.

Clothing: He dresses pretty much the same way that Yuki from the original Fruits Basket does. It's a rat thing, I guess.

Personality: He's secretive and sensitive, and definitely angst-ridden. His abusive past left mental scars that aren't healable.

Bad Habits: Bringing himself down, letting his hopes get carried away just to be shot down.

Loves: It may appear that he loves Kyo via chapter seven, but that's not actually true. He doesn't really love anyone.

Hates: The one person that he can't stand is his sister, whose personality is like a more sexual female Ayame. It's not that he hates Kyo, but there's more on that in later chapters.

Kyo

Age: 15

Gender: Male

Hair: Orange

Animal: Cat (second)

Family: His mother Tohru and father Kyo

Clothing: Tough, like his dad used to.

Personality: He, too, has a bad temper. He has a slight soft spot for Sen, considering that she's the 'trigger' and will possibly be the one to relieve his curse. He feels indebted to her, in a way.

Bad Habits: Random outbursts of anger over little things.

Loves: Absolutely no one. At first.

Hates: He hates his mother more than anyone. His opinion of her is that, "she thinks she can understand what it's like to be cursed and have a true form just because she could accept Dad." He detests Yukio because he's the rat.

Tomo

Age: 16

Gender: Female

Hair: Orange

Animal: Cat (first)

Family: Her mother and father.

Clothing: Girly. She has a liking for frills and bows.

Personality: She's meek and shy, especially in front of the bad-tempered Sohma.

Bad Habits: She tends to apologize a lot whenever she thinks she's done something wrong.

Loves: She's not IN LOVE with anyone, but she loves her extended family.

Hates: She doesn't hate anyone.

Shi

Age: 16

Gender: Female

Hair: Black with a layer of red

Animal: Dragon

Family: She lives with Roku's family.

Clothing: Dark and plain. Most of her wardrobe consists of tight black clothes.

Personality: She's a quiet stoic type, but is painfully jealous when Roku looks at other girls.

Bad Habits: Jealousy

Loves: Roku

Hates: Ayami, Yukio's sister. She's just annoying like that.

Roku

Age: 16

Gender: Female

Hair: Orangey gold

Animal: Monkey

Family: She lives with her mother, father, and Shi.

Clothing: Elaborate. She likes to mix.

Personality: She's a teaser. She enjoys messing with Shi just to try and get her to say how much she really cares for her.

Bad Habits: Teasing

Loves: Shi

Hates: Kyoumi. She thinks of Ichigo as a brother, and thinks of Kyoumi as a _leech_. Ha.

Kaito

Age: 16

Gender: Male

Hair: Mostly white, but with black chunks underneath

Animal: Ox

Family: His father and mother. How monotonously boring.

Clothing: Anything he feels like if it isn't traditional kimonos.

Personality: He enjoys ruining romantic moments with his smart aleck and sarcastic remarks and overall bringing life back to any atmosphere whether it is in an annoying way or not.

Bad Habits: He has an obsession with biting his nails.

Loves: Anyone. He looks up to Ayami for her great annoying-ness.

Hates: No one.

Koyuu

Age: Technically, she's been around since the Yamato age. In appearance she's about nine.

Gender: Female

Hair: Very light lavender

Animal: None. She's the curse itself.

Family: All of her close family has long since died.

Clothing: A Shinto priest outfit. You know, Hakama and such.

Personality: Very shy, very easily embarrassed

Bad Habits: Insecure

Loves: The entire zodiac.

Hates: Someone that comes in later.

Kotone

Age: 15

Gender: Female

Hair: Dirty/golden blonde

Animal: Rabbit

Family: She's in an abusive family of four.

Clothing: Goth, punk, and emo is her style. She's not happy about the labels.

Bad Habits: Stubbornness and complaining about her image

Loves: Daisuke

Hates: Kyoumi. She's pretty much part of the Sohma Kyoumi Extermination Club with Roku.

Sono

Age: 15

Gender: Female

Hair: MANY colors. Currently it's half black half blonde

Animal: "bird"

Family: She's in a family of three, with her parents divorced

Clothing: She wears Goth, punk, and emo clothing. She isn't happy about the labels.

Bad Habits: She has a temper, and has a tendency to punch people for no reason.

Loves: It appears that she loves Yukio, but actually she has no feelings of love in her little black heart. XDD

Hates: Kyo. She hates him with a fiery passion.

Saku

Age: She's been bound to Koyuu since the Yamato age, as well, but in appearance she's around nine.

Gender: Female

Hair: Dark gray with brown flecks

Animal: Wolf

Family: Her family has long since died.

Clothing: Casual

Bad Habits: Pessimism

Loves: No one

Hates: No one

Shige

Age: Nine

Gender: Female

Hair: White

Animal: Owl

Family: Her parents were killed, and she and her brother were sent to live with their abusive aunt and uncle

Clothing: Casual

Bad Habits: Clinging to 'Nii-nii' in times of peril

Loves: She loves Setsushi as a brother.

Hates: No one

-X-

Right, so the rest of the characters were hardly introduced or not introduced at all or you already know most about them, so I'll just end it here. Please review and tell me who you want to read more of!


	10. Chapter 9

I was raised as Sohma Ai

A/N: Go back and read the end of Death Wish again, AKA chapter thirteen again before you read this. It will make a lot more sense if you've forgotten.

VERY much thanks to ShadowWinged Wolf, without whose exquisitely helpful review, this chapter would have sucked big time. (As in – new characters. That is how bad it would have been.)

I, to be blunt, am really ashamed of Death Wish, chapter three, and chapter seven. I was reading Death Wish over, and I kept noticing huge errors and really bad writing and it was completely and totally rushed. I kept thinking, "No way. People actually READ this?" Then I was looking through my chapters and stopped at three. ACK. WAY too short, way too rushed. Let's just say that I was NOT visited by the description fairy, the draw-things-out-you-idiot fairy, OR the suicide fairy.

Chapter seven was just pa-the-tic. I was glad for the length, since having long chapters is my passion, but I noticed that there were just a lot of pointless fillers to make it longer. And now I've come to really hate making up a totally useless character out of boredom. I'll be cutting Onokori Zero out. Thanks again to ShadowWinged Wolf, I wouldn't have caught how much of a pointless rip-off he was. I seriously appreciate it. I will try to make this better, even if it means starting all over. (UGH.)

As a random fact, while I was writing Death Wish I highly considered revealing that Ichigo is secretly a girl, like Akito. In the end, I sped through the ending, killed off Etsu, and had no room left over for it because I was already done. I'm glad I didn't, though. Love's Last Words would kill me…He's a guy. BELIEVE NOTHING ELSE!

Venom is beating me with a pinecone stuffed into pantyhose so I'll write. So tragic.

By the way, after the parody part, it all takes place way in the past; back when Kyoumi was a wee little lad…

* * *

_I was raised as Sohma Ai. I grew up with only my 'father' after my mother died. He never was one for speaking. He just kind of moped around and slept a lot. There was one thing I had noticed—he never got any older. As I aged, I began to notice more and more that the only way in which his appearance changed was that he bore dark circles under his hollow-looking eyes. It was never a very happy home with the constant atmosphere of depression. It always just seemed like if I said anything to him without thinking, he would fall apart at the seams. So, I tried to never speak to him unless spoken to first—I never would have guessed that it would make anything worse, yet it did. Soon, I became that way with everyone, and because of it I was intimidating and antisocial. Finally, I just stopped speaking altogether, and eventually lost myself._

Sensei stood to call roll, calling off names from her clipboard in no particular order. As she got to the name she always called last, Sohma Ai, her eyes slid over the seat as though it were empty, knowing perfectly well that the flaxen-haired ten-year-old would not answer, seeing as she hadn't spoken for around six months, the year before all resulting in a severe decrescendo towards her silence. Many of the faculty and staff were worried about her, yet they never spoke to her of it for fear of breaking the small, fragile child. It first became apparent when she'd stopped eating at lunch, merely sitting there in the seat with her head down and bento untouched. Then, as others began to demand things of her—small items like food that she'd brought, crayons she was using—she would simply give them away, completely oblivious to her own possessions. If she was bullied, she let it go by as though it were a friendly conversation. She'd stopped caring about herself. Yet sadly, for a few of the boys in the school, she was their absolute favorite rag doll.

-Lunchtime-

"Hold her down!" One of the boys from the high school section hissed, peering around the side of the large tree that the group was sitting under to check for teachers and anyone who could possibly see them. He looked around quickly, and then turned back to the other boys his age, two of which were holding the arms of a thin, golden-haired, pretty-faced elementary student, who stared upward blankly from her lying position on the grassy, earthen ground beneath the large deciduous tree.

The older boys cackled evilly, reaching forward to pull off her clothes.

She was their favorite because she never resisted.

-Two years later-

Akira-san was mad.

Ai sat in a chair, still as she could possibly hold herself as she tried to keep herself from shaking in fear at the commotion that occurred before her. Akira had flown into a fury, throwing everything in reach to the floor, screaming out accusations in such a fury-shaken voice that the words became unintelligible. His furious glare landed on her, and she pursed her lips tightly to prevent from gasping. He stalked toward her, grabbing her by her hair and pulling her from the chair onto the floor.

"Why?" He demanded. "Why didn't you tell me you were possessed? Why didn't you tell anyone?"

She couldn't bring herself to speak, and instead shook her head, which infuriated Akira more.

"You're part of MY zodiac! I can do what I want with you." He announced sadistically. "Now tell me why you didn't say anything."

Her lips quivered as though she were going to speak, and she mouthed the words 'I couldn't' silently, not able to locate her vocal cords in order to speak—she'd practically forgotten how. She felt hot moisture on her cheeks and her eyes were stinging…she realized with a start that she was crying. _Why? _She asked herself. It was her first time seeing Akira—something had called out to her in a relieved yet at the same time sad way. She was possessed—was it good or bad?

_Will Otou-san still want me? When he finds out I turn into an animal whenever someone hugs me…what will he do?_

She was snapped out of her reverie of thoughts as Akira struck her sharply across the face, her lack of guard sending her tumbling onto her back pathetically as her eyes widened in surprise, mouth open in a silent scream of pain. Akira stepped forward, picking her up by her hair again and retrieving a piece of broken china from the floor. He slashed at her with it, cutting her skin and making her convulse with pain suppressed by her silence and inability to scream. With a vengeance, Akira shoved the piece of now bloody china into her left arm, throwing her aside and leaving the room swiftly. With trembling fingers, she attempted to pull out the shard, squeezing her eyes shut in pain as she touched it. Tears streamed thickly down her cheeks as she was forced to absorb the pain as slowly the areas that were not stinging with cuts became numb and wouldn't move.

"Is someone in here?" A male child's voice called, hesitant. Footsteps brought them into the room, where they saw the young girl sprawled on the ground, shaking violently and bleeding heavily from the many cuts all over her body. There was a loud gasp, and the voice screamed for help at the top of his lungs, running footsteps bringing him close to her as she felt the footsteps in the floorboards as her senses inclined from the numbness that had taken over her body. A few seconds later a young boy with shaggy chestnut hair appeared in her vision, face worried. "Are you okay?" He demanded. "What happened?" He leaned over her, inspecting the many cuts, as his expression grew more horrified as his eyes scanned over each one.

Slowly, her eyes began to close of their own accord, and the next thing she knew, there was only blackness—the rest of the world had disappeared.

_It's quiet here…no one is yelling. It feels safe. Safe and quiet, quiet and safe. I like it here. Let me stay here forever. Forget about me and leave me here where it's nice and quiet and peaceful and dark. Dark? It's dark? It isn't bright, so it must be dark. Bright would be painful, and there's no pain here, so it has to be dark. I like it here. Don't take me away. Please, don't take me away from here. It's heaven, isn't it? Did I die? I wonder if they know yet? Someone, someone, I'm dead. You don't need to worry anymore. Otou-san, I've finally died—you can be happy now. Wake up, stop sleeping so much. It's finally over. I'm finally over. Is there anyone out there? Can you hear me? Did you know that I've died? Okaa-san, can I meet you now? Will you protect me? This way I'll be your little girl forever if you want me to. I'll be perfect. I'll do anything. Someone? Is anyone there? Hello?_

Ai's eyes opened slowly, pupils shrinking at the intensified brightness of the room due to the white walls. The smell of medicines reached her nose, and her heard swirled with painkillers as she tried to sit up, quickly laying back down and holding her head. When the spinning stopped, she looked around the room, gaze landing on the boy from before leaning on the wall by the door, his arms crossed over his chest and eyes covered by his bangs. He looked up at her with a furious expression, and she thought she heard his teeth clamp together.

"You're awake." He acknowledged with gritted teeth. She nodded in response. He growled something under his breath and then went over to her with an angry stride, never once redirecting his scathing eyes from her surprised face. "Why did you let him do that to you?" He demanded. "Were you trying to get killed? Do you have a death wish? Are you suicidal?" He sneered.

She felt hurt flash through her eyes, and his expression flickered for a moment because of it. She looked away, knowing that there was no way to explain what had happened, even if she could speak. How could she have resisted? Akira wanted to beat her and hurt her—why should she deny him what he wanted? Who was she to try and deprive people of what they needed and wanted to do? If he could do whatever he wanted to her like he'd said, who was she to try and stand in his way?

"What would your parents think if you wound up dead because you wouldn't protect yourself?" He hissed.

That remark stung. She let her head drop to where her chin was on her collarbone, bangs covering her eyes. She took a slow breath and opened her mouth. "I…" she started in a shaky voice, cracked and small from lack of use. "…Though it would be better…for everyone…if I disappeared."

There was a moment of silence in which the boy positively shook with fury, before he forcefully banged his fist against the wall, making her jump. "BETTER?" He demanded loudly. "HOW WOULD IT BE BETTER?"

"I don't know!" She cried as she sobbed hopelessly, attempting to hide her face in her hands. "I don't know…" she repeated sadly, "…what to do anymore…"

His angry expression faltered and switched to sympathetic, and he kneeled by the hospital bed, taking her hand in his own. "Then forget." He muttered. "Just get out of that house with your parents and run somewhere and don't look back. I'll find you somehow. Be someone else and erase the old you."

She looked up at him incredulously. "I'll get caught." She argued.

He shook his head, refusing to meet her gaze. "I'll make sure you won't." He smirked. "Ami." He tilted his head to the side. "By the way, I'm Sohma Chion."

Ami. Chion. Don't ever forget it.

-X-

"Ai?" The emotionless voice of her 'father' came from the living room, where he usually was at that time of night. Ai stepped into the room to see him staring blankly at the memento of her mother, and she felt a wave of guilt as she stared at the picture. Her mother was unsmiling in it, an annoyed expression on her otherwise beautiful face. Her dark gray, brown-flecked hair was long, bangs hanging in her eyes.

Ai shook her head and headed down the hall to her bedroom, opening the door as though trying to be as silent as possible. She found a black bag at the back of her closet, and quickly threw as many clothes and supplies into it as she could. She hid it in the cabinet where she kept her futon, shutting it firmly. She stepped out of the room and into her father's bedroom, looking around for a place where money might be kept. She found a few hundred yen in the kitchen, however, and swiftly tucked it into her pocket. She went back into her room and took the bag, slinging it over her shoulder. As she exited her room and tiptoed down the hall, she felt her breathing increase to the point of near hyperventilation with nervousness. She flew out the door, slamming it behind her, running until she was at the gates of the 'inside' Sohma territory. She fell to her knees, panting hard. She coughed a few times, and then stood again, forcing herself to keep going and ignoring the stitch in her side. Finally, in a dark alleyway behind a bar, she tripped and doubled over, falling onto her back and clutching her aching side as she listened to her heart beating furiously in her chest.

She felt her eyes slowly start to close with her sudden weakness, and seconds later a young tiger cub lay unconscious in the alley.

_I'm not Ai anymore._

-X-

"Ha!" Ami, now seventeen, laughed in acknowledgement of her victory. She slammed an ace card down onto the table streaked with small streams and scattered droplets of water due to the condensation taking place on the outside of the cold bottles of alcohol. "Ace—I win again." She smirked triumphantly.

"How the hell do you keep getting the good cards?" Her opponent demanded.

"Luck." Ami pronounced the word thoroughly. "And I won, so hand it over." She held out her hand in expectation. The opponent sighed in humiliation of being beaten and handed her a few bills. She clicked her tongue and sorted through them quickly, tossing out ones at random. "Fake." She muttered, dropping another onto the table. "Come on—did you think I wouldn't notice?" She cocked her head to the side with an amused smirk playing across her lips.

He sighed again and shrugged. "All I got is what you have."

Her eyes narrowed. "Really?"

"Ami-chan," A waitress who was familiar with her called. "There's someone here for you."

Ami stood slowly, depositing the remaining bills into the pocket of her jacket, throwing her opponent a peace sign. "I'll let you off," she told him, nearly laughing at his relief, "but don't tell your friends you won against me. A girl beat you and you know it. Lie and it'll be painful." She smiled cheerfully (which proved contrasting to her previous statement) and practically skipped away in a melodic, gay manner. (And I assume that you all know I intend this form of gay to mean happy.)

There was a teenage boy, tall for his age with a thin frame, leaning against the wall near the back exit, choppy chestnut hair hanging in front of his eyes. He had his arms crossed over his chest impatiently, nearly blending into the darkened atmosphere of the corner by his black-clad appearance.

Ami sighed, shifting her weight to the left foot and restlessly running a hand through her long hair. "What do you need?" She asked simply, cocking her head to the side.

The teen looked up at her, revealing equally brown eyes. "Hm." He annunciated shortly. "I think the question would more so be—do you remember who I am at all?" He tapped his fingers on his forearm, locking his jaw in annoyance at something.

Ami thought for a moment. He did look familiar, but she couldn't seem to put a name to the face. She stared at him blankly, sorting through names mentally as though using the process of elimination. "Do you come here often?" She tried.

He sighed in a hiss-like manner. "Right, so that's a no." He muttered, more to himself. He glanced over at her confused expression and hissed the word "damn" under his breath in aggravation. "Do you remember when you were a kid, and you got beat up by Akira-san?" He asked slowly, as though searching for the right words.

She frowned. "How do you know about something like…" Her voice trailed off, and she remained silent for a few seconds. Finally, her eyes widened. "You're Chion-kun, right?" She asked excitedly.

He nodded once, glaring.

Ami made a sound of disapproval and jokingly punched him on the arm. "Why didn't you say something first?"

"Didn't think you would remember."

It lurched into happier times from that point. Everything seemed to have broken out of the darkened stupor it was captured under to become illuminated in a sunlit glow, and even night could not make me retreat back into the numb darkness in which I had grown to hide myself in for so long. The world had meaning. Whether that's exactly what it means to be in love when you're possessed, I don't know, yet with us, that's just how it was. For a short time it lasted—happiness lives a momentary life.

"NO!" Akira screeched furiously, throwing anything within reach to the floor and hopefully breaking it. "NO! DID YOU EVER THINK THAT YOU'D BE ALLOWED TO DEFY ME LIKE THAT?"

Ami could feel herself trembling with fear as memories of the last time Akira had been furious at her rang out in her mind and appeared as though truly in her line of sight. Even if she closed her eyes, she could still hear the china breaking, her frenzied breathing and the sharp numbness and white-hot pain.

"Are you scared?" Akira demanded in sadistic pleasure. "You're mine. I can do whatever I want with you—even if it means killing both of you!"

"Don't…" Ami whimpered frantically. "Do what you want to me. I'll let you." She stood fearfully from the chair she sat in, holding her arms out as though crucified. "Don't do anything to Chion."

Akira's eyes narrowed in fury, pupils seeming slit-like. "I already have." He lied simply. Fine, if physical pain wasn't going to teach her, mental pain would definitely work. He nearly laughed aloud at his discovery. She would believe a lie in a situation like this. "I killed him."

Ami froze, eyes wide and horrified. She attempted speaking, mainly refusals to believe Akira's words, yet her voice faltered and cracked. She took a few fearful steps away from Akira before falling to her knees. Hanging her head, she felt around numbly for a big enough piece of broken glass. She picked one up and held it out as an open invitation to kill her.

Akira laughed darkly. "That's pathetic. Pathetic. Are you telling me you're not able to live just because he's dead?" Before she could even attempt to reply, Akira continued. "Well, I suppose you should feel that way. After all, it was your fault."

"No!" She gasped in terror.

Akira's otherwise dark eyes gleamed with the happiness of victory. From somewhere in his robe he drew an ordinary kitchen knife, making Ami wonder momentarily how long he'd hidden it there, or whether he'd already had intentions of killing her. He stared down into her widened eyes, smiling pleasantly as he stepped forward as though to merely brush his fingers through her hair rather than to kill her possibly slowly and painfully.

In honesty, she didn't feel a thing.

-X-

Ami's eyes wouldn't open.

She felt herself weakening by the minute as bright light flooded her vision regardless of her eyes being closed. Her body ached sharply, several spots stinging from the previous night that replayed itself over and over in her mind. She'd accepted after a rather psychotic episode that resulted in bed straps that she was a murderer. That fact stung, considering that it had truly been her fault. Life was useless and cold, in her opinion. The warmth had long since been drowned by the intensifying darkness.

"How is she?" A strikingly familiar voice asked somewhere nearby. She sighed mentally in exasperation. Not only was she most likely going insane from shock of being at fault in someone's murder, she now was hearing things.

"She's fine." A nurse replied in a low tone. "But when I say that, I mean physically. Mentally she's doing horrible. She won't eat, and she won't reply if you say something to her. Her eyes are blank. The other day she went on a rampage out of shock because of something. After that, we tried putting her on medication to help whatever this is. Her body won't react to it. To put it in simple terms, she's given up."

"Let me see her." It was a simple statement, yet there was fury and demand burning behind it. Her lungs felt heavy—why wouldn't the voice go away and quit speaking? Didn't it know that his voice was gone?

"I don't think that's a good idea right now," The nurse admitted.

Ami felt a wave of relief. The voice continued arguing with the nurse, though he never made any actual progress as to winning. Finally, she heard the curtain slide across the metal pole that held it intact, and she would have groaned in annoyance if her throat weren't horribly sore. What exactly had happened that night?

"So you've done it again."

Her eyes flew open in utter astonishment, and she cast a fearful glance towards the door. Her breath hitched and she sat up quickly, ignoring the familiar whirl of painkillers in her head. She moved back across the bed, holding her aching head. She had died and gone to hell. That's what had happened. It seemed logical enough—she was a sin, a parasite, was she not? But why was Chion here?

"No!" She moaned in a cracked voice. "Get out of here!" Get out of hell! She wanted to scream it at him. Hell is for sinners like me—get out!

"Fine." He responded shortly. "You don't need someone like me, anyway."

That completely floored her. "Wait!" She attempted, holding out a hand as though to stop him. "Chion-kun!"

Chion didn't listen. He turned away from her, reaching for the door handle. Ami hurriedly threw herself out of the hospital bed, grabbing the back of his shirt. He turned, slightly astonished at the sudden action for someone who'd been on the verge of death for days. She was clutching his shirt frantically.

"Don't go!" She whispered. "Don't leave me alone in hell."

He turned to face her slowly. "If this is hell, why are you here?

The happiness returned as though it had never left.

-Present-

The moonlight sent white shades across everything in its path that was previously stained with dark blue ink caused by the darkness of the night. The dark green curtains rustled subtly as Koyuu parted them in order to have a place to sit on the windowsill. She glanced down blankly at the sleeping Saku and Shige, and then over to Etsu's futon. She sighed in utter boredom, pouting slightly.

Etsu twitched and sat up slowly, bringing herself to a standing position. Koyuu blinked rapidly in surprise, and then stepped down from the window to see what she was doing more closely. She followed Etsu as silently as she could manage, stopping when the girl reached the door. She frowned and tugged the back of Etsu's shirt as though trying to stop her. Etsu whirled around with wide eyes, staring at exactly the spot where Koyuu was standing. Koyuu stared back, bewildered. Was she able to see her?

"What do you want?" Etsu asked without moving her gaze. That confirmed it. Etsu hadn't really 'awoken', had she? Koyuu frowned again in incomprehension. The real Etsu hadn't been awakened since she jumped from the building…her false persona that Koyuu had created had taken over to protect her.

"Ano…" Koyuu muttered.

"That voice." Etsu hissed shortly. "I've heard it before."

Koyuu froze. She'd awoken. She calculated it quickly in her mind—if the real Etsu had awoken, that meant that she remembered everything from her time as herself before she'd jumped, and possibly a little after that. She would understand perfectly what had happened to everyone she used to know, for Koyuu had been telling her 'unconscious' side all of the information while the false Etsu was asleep. But now that she was back and was going to be forced to face all of it—what would happen?

Etsu smiled darkly. "You've been telling me things for years, just filling me in on everything that's happened. I appreciate it." The last addition sounded a bit like sarcasm. "But I don't exactly believe you."

Koyuu stared at her in disbelief. "It's the truth." She argued. "Why else would I mentally tell you something like that?"

"You're messing with me!" Etsu accused furiously. "Stop, damn it! I don't believe you. The curse was broken last time, I know it was. Don't tell me there's another one! I don't believe you!"

"Test it." Koyuu ordered. "Hug one of the new zodiac members that is male. They'll transform. Yours was broken, remember? By Akito."

Etsu curled her fingers into a fist and punched the wall roughly, resulting in a shallow knuckle-shaped intent. She bit her tongue roughly at the slight pain. "Tell me you're lying." She pleaded, leaning against the closed door, looking away with remorse in her expression. "No one is really possessed anymore, are they?"

Koyuu nodded sadly. "If a new god is born into the Sohma, a new zodiac will be born as well. This version is badly corrupted. For one thing, there have been literal lapses in time. Someone that was born thirteen years ago may now only be ten, for some reason. We don't know why, but we think it has to do with the uneven cycling of the Minamizawa curse that Saku and I are placed under." She hesitated. "Not only were there time lapses, but there are two of every animal this time. Not all of them are alive—some were killed so that the zodiac would seem…immaculate. Yet I wouldn't let all of them die. A few of them are alive, now."

"Are you crazy?" Etsu demanded. "Time lapses are something out of a damn science fiction movie, and why the hell would there be two? That's completely illogical!"

Koyuu flushed in embarrassment for some reason. "I know they are. But in Minamizawa, where we are now, there's a curse that possesses people by supposedly demonic spirits and drives them to kill. It happens in these separate 'worlds'. Fate lays out what is going to happen in each world, and sadly it's always been true and really happened. So as the people from a world die, the entire world repeats itself, which includes the entire Minamizawa area. If anyone stays too long, they get thrown into the repetition. That's what caused the time lapses—Minamizawa is the actual origin of the Sohma. The very first Sohma, the lonely old man with the animals from the Chinese zodiac, held his banquet here, where he lived." (It's the legend of the Sohma curse. I think it might be in the fan book under 'why the Sohma are possessed.') Koyuu explained. "Because the curse was broken in the previous generation, it slipped from my control this time and two of every animal ended up being born. Yet along with that, a trigger was created in order to break the curse when it came time for that to happen. Yet she doesn't know she's a trigger—we never told her and erased all evidence that she could find."

Etsu locked her jaw stubbornly, glaring at the wall. "Why were you calling…that thing pretending to be me…something like Hanshin? Am I a rebellious spirit?" She demanded darkly.

Koyuu sweat dropped. "I thought it represented the village curse well."

(Interruption: Yes. That is the only reason—it sounded like it had something to do with the killing curse. Don't you just want to strangle me right about now? Ha, ha. Sorry for making you guys think it was some huge crucial part of the story.)

Etsu stared at her in disgust. "Do I look like someone who wants to have a name given to my schizophrenic other self just because it sounds like a mascot?"

"It's not schizophrenic…" Koyuu muttered.

"Whatever." Etsu snapped. "Tell me what happened to Sora. Is he still alive? He didn't kill himself or anything, did he?"

Koyuu shook her head. "He's alive." She looked away and added darkly. "For now." She drew back after seeing the expression on Etsu's face—deadly. "He's going to die in a year." She squeaked fearfully.

The door flew open and crashed loudly into the wall. Etsu stormed outside furiously, without an idea in her mind where she might be going. She ignored Koyuu's demands to know where she was going, instead raising her hand and flicking her wrist out as though it counted as a valid response.

A year? She thought in incredulity. "DAMN IT!" She screeched aloud. She stomped down the dirt road, leaving deep imprints in the trodden earth where she stepped. There came a rumble of thunder in the distance, and she glanced up hopelessly. Why hadn't she noticed the looming rain clouds before? First one drop, then another fell to the ground. She narrowed her eyes in frustration as a downpour quickly started. "Well isn't that just great?"

-X-

Practically blinded by fury, Etsu threw open the door of Shigure's home, ignoring the fact that since so much time had passed he may not live there. Yet since Koyuu's words were probably lies, anyway, what did it matter? She had never believed in fortunes or psychics, so why should she listen to some mental apparition that spoke to her? The entire idea was completely illogical—not to mention insane.

The fact that the main room was empty filled her with an insane urge to scream.

She bit down on her tongue and stalked inside, sitting down on the floor in the living room, slumped against the wall. It was a mess, where she was. Everyone she knew was probably dead, had already died, or was on the verge of death. Before she could think of a valid reason for why Sora would even think of that…suicide contract…a flood of memories burst through like beating down a dam.

_He smirked, then jumped up and jabbed his thumb into his chest. "Manabe Kakeru!" He cried. "And I AM BLACK!"_

What had happened to him? Sure, she never knew him very well, but they still saw each other almost daily in the Student Council room. Was he dead?

_"Call me by my name, you little whore."_

Her father. Was he dead? Was he alive? Had he finally gone to prison for all of the ghastly things he'd done to her?

**_"YAMERO!"_**

That stung to remember. What had she been thinking? Did she honestly want to hurt Sora that badly? Who the hell was she?

Were they dead? Was everyone dead? Yuki, Kyo, Tohru…was everyone gone? The entire world seemed to darken at that realization. That meant that she was utterly and entirely alone in wherever this was. Why had she even tried to take her life if it meant that she was going to end up stranded in a crowd of unfamiliar faces?

She hated it.

She covered her face with her hands in desperation and screamed as loudly as she could manage. The screams quickly turned into sobs, the overall weight of her current situation seeming crushing. Yet there was no escape. Whispers and memories were closing in like crushing walls, and she was forced to recap them all.

_Good night. I love you._

_Falling through the air was exhilarating. The harsh 'wind' blew her hair and clothes roughly as she dropped through the open air. Her mind was set only on the fact that this was the end of it all—no one would suffer any more because of her. Finally, the pretty petty wolf would be dead. Adrenaline ripped through her senses, setting her entire being ablaze with excitement. Falling felt like flying, and she closed her eyes as though to protect the illusion._

_Falling feels like flying…until you hit the ground._

_She could feel the impact tremor in every bone in her body, sending waves of horrible pain crashing through her every nerve. The sickening snap of her ribs as she hit the ground echoed in her ears as pain struck through her like lightning. She knew she was dying, and it was the blackness of her vision that told her all she needed to know._

_It was over._

-X-

Sohma Kyo hastily descended the stairs, peering into the living room curiously. He'd heard a scream not too long ago, and it had definitely come from downstairs. He looked around the room before his sight fell on a pale young woman slumped against the wall, long bangs covering her eyes and jet black hair fanned out beside her, some locks cascading over her shoulders.

"Who the HELL are YOU?" He demanded loudly.

She flew into a standing position quickly, staring at him with shocked bright copper eyes. Before he knew what was happening, she had wrapped her arms around him and buried her face in his shoulder, crying for some reason.

"What the hell are you doing?" He practically shouted. "Are you stupid?" Yet he never transformed. He stared down at the girl, thoroughly confused.

"Kyo-kun…" She whispered. "You're not dead."

"What are you talking about?" Kyo hissed in annoyance.

She pulled away and looked at him with wide, confused eyes. "So I did something really bad, right?" She began. "So then I went and jumped off this building and died but then when I thought I was dead it turned out that this weird little purple-haired girl had put some other person in my head and they were going around as me and I didn't know it but I woke up as me a few hours ago and then I learned that the guy I did something really bad to is going to die in a year and so I came here to see if Shigure-nii would know where he might be so I can find him and beat him senseless but it turned out that everybody is dead except you."

"I have no idea what the hell you're talking about." He stared at her in annoyed confusion. "Did you know my dad?"

"Dad…?" She repeated.

"Yeah, he lives at the old dojo he inherited from his dad."

"Who are you?" She asked darkly. "I never knew your father."

"ACK!" He screeched. "Look, I'm Kyo. THE SECOND."

She blinked up at him in confusion, and then turned around and ran from the house in what looked like the blink of an eye. "Thanks Kyo Jr.!" She called, almost euphorically. The sudden happiness was manic.

They're alive, someone is alive!

-X-

"Tadaima!" Etsu cried, throwing open the door to the dojo despite the fact that she did not live there. "Kyo-kun? Tohru-kun? Hello?" She didn't stop at the mat for taking off one's shoes, for she'd left the house that her 'schizophrenic other self' had been living in barefoot in a black tank top and shorts. Not that it particularly mattered to her—being half-naked in public was the least of her worries at the moment.

There was a shuffling, and a light flicked on in the main room. Etsu stared into a pair of brown eyes on an…aged…face. She was a brunette woman, small in bone structure with a face that still reflected youngness in its highlights, brunette hair falling to the middle of her back in a straight style, wavy from being tied up in braids. She was confused, scrutinizing Etsu carefully before gasping loudly.

"Etsu-san?" Honda Tohru cried in surprise. "Y-you look the same as when I saw you last!"

Etsu smiled gleefully at the reunion—Tohru still hadn't outgrown her habit of speaking politely. "I know, I know." Etsu rolled her eyes, the smile still plastered on her face. "I don't know why that is, so don't ask. I haven't seen you in so long!" She exclaimed excitedly. "Do you remember that time when I beat up Kyo-kun?"

When Tohru cocked her head to the side in confusion, Etsu felt her face flush. Those must be old memories to Tohru—they were the only ones Etsu had. Her only recent 'memories' were only things that Koyuu had been telling her unconscious presence in her other self's mind. She felt the smile slip from her face.

"It was right before Sora showed up." She murmured wistfully. "He was hurt." She managed to choke out. The words hurt and Sora in the same sentence seemed like acid or deadly poison, now.

Tohru's face lit with remembrance. "I do remember, now, Etsu-san!" She informed the youthful girl happily. "You grew your hair so long." She acknowledged rather dreamily. "When did it turn fully black like that?"

Etsu smiled back. "I don't remember growing it out. After…" she froze. Did Tohru know about the suicide attempt? "After I…ran away to live in the woods for a really long time I wound up with amnesia after I hit my head really hard on something." She assured Tohru quickly, knocking in her head with a fist. "Then last night I woke up and everything came back to me. A few months before I ran away, I'd cut my hair short. But I have really fast-growing hair so it just turned out like this." She laughed.

Tohru looked like a worried mother. "You ran away? Are you alright?" Frenzied, worrisome panic was audible in her tone, slowly taken over by admiration. "Well, I think it looks very pretty! You shouldn't cut it."

"I'm fine," Etsu assured her quickly. "You really think so? I think it's kind of…" She froze again, remembering her original intention for cutting her hair. "I felt like if I changed myself and became a different person, I wouldn't have feelings for Sora, Akito wouldn't figure that out, and hurt him." "Bothersome." She finished grudgingly, eyes narrowing slightly.

Tohru, sensing the suddenly tense atmosphere, veered away from the subject. "Well…um…would you like to sit down? Here, I'll make tea." She showed Etsu to the living room, and hurried into the kitchen in the room behind it.

Etsu sat quietly at the low table, staring blankly at the wall. She refused to let her mind wander and dredge up memories she didn't want to think about, let alone be forced to visually recap. She realized with a start how insane something like that sounded, and grit her teeth in annoyance, bringing her fist down on the carpeted floor. She counted the seconds in order to distract herself, finding herself in perfect metronome rhythm with the clock on the wall.

After what seemed like an eternity, but really had only been a few minutes, Tohru exited the kitchen with a tray adorned with two steaming cups of hot tea. She set it down on the table with a familiar clumsy air. She sat down, tucking her long skirt beneath her knees neatly. She reached for a cup with a sudden slowness that struck Etsu with a feeling of guilt. It was because Tohru was old that she was acting this way—slower reactions, slower movements…it was depressing to think that she would never find herself that way if whatever was keeping her from aging was still intact. Right now she should have been around forty-five. She felt that it was somehow her fault that she was like this—trapped in youth forever to make the same mistakes over and over again.

Suddenly, she remembered her reason for coming. "Have you seen Sora lately?"

Tohru thought for an agonizing moment. "No, I haven't. Are you looking for him?" She asked.

Etsu groaned. "Do you at least know where he's living?" Tell me it's not an asylum. She pleaded mentally. "I really, really need to talk to him."

Tohru thought again. "No, I'm sorry." She replied apologetically. "But you might try his house—I don't know if he still lives there or not. I'm sorry." She added again, looking down at her knees in slight embarrassment at not being able to provide a better answer. When she looked up, Etsu was gone, and the sliding door of the dojo was wide open.

-X-

The door flew open with a loud bang, revealing a panting Etsu standing in its wake, the fury having returned. "SORA!" She shouted to the darkened front room, finding it empty. "I know you're here." She added. "Might as well come out before I have to go find you. And that won't be pleasant, trust me." She stepped into the living room, crossing her arms across her chest.

Curiously, Etsu looked around at the few things adorning the living room. It was previously his parents' house, before they died, and all things they'd put up in the particular room had long since been taken down and shoved in a dark corner of the attic somewhere in a cardboard box. Her eyes fell on something in a corner, and her entire face flushed in utter mortification. She heard someone gasp loudly, and realized with another strike of embarrassment that it had been her.

She stared at a picture of herself, an old one, in which she wore a sour expression, as though the person taking the picture had just mortally insulted her to the point of no return. Her hair was the color it had been when she was possessed by the wolf; her skin a shade tanner than it currently was due to the fact that she hadn't been in the sunlight in…well…years.

Covering her eyes with an occasional peek to see where she was going, she reached out in front of her blindly to turn the picture over, still fighting the urge to laugh out loud at the rather stalkerish action. He'd never been one for mementos, so why did he have one? More importantly, why did he have one of her? When she'd successfully turned the picture over, she removed her hand, remembering her initial purpose for coming. Beating the hell out of him for doing something so incredibly idiotic was first—defacing this stalkerish monument would come later.

Etsu turned down a hallway, remembering clearly where his bedroom was. She threw open the door with a loud bang, stepping inside and placing her hands on her hips. The room was dark, yet her previous possession had landed her with good eyesight in the dark. She peered around the room, gaze falling on a futon lain out on the wooden floor. He was asleep. She hadn't even considered that.

She slowly and quietly exited the room—though it wasn't necessary anyway, if he could sleep through noise like she'd been making—and decided to look around in his house some more. She opened another door in the hallway, finding it filled with children's things. At first she thought it was Sora's room from when he'd been a child. She picked up a piece of white drawing paper marked with brightly colored crayons. It was a stick figure drawing of a girl with yellow hair, and there was a tear on her face with an X where her mouth should have been. Written in clumsy katakana at the bottom was "Sohma Ai".

She gasped, throwing it to the floor. That child was still alive? How did it end up in this house?

She exited the room as quickly as possible, giving up the idea to see what was in the other rooms. She went back into the living room, thinking fast. After she'd jumped…she expected an orphanage to take Ai. How had Sora wound up with her? How had he raised a kid when he never spoke? Did he keep speaking? Where was she, now? She felt a strong urge to wake Sora up and take him into persistent questioning.

Suddenly finding herself exhausted, Etsu slumped against the wall in the living room and let herself fall into a deep, dreamless sleep, untouched by lingering memories that continued to haunt her. She awoke to darkened, rainy skies, rain and hail pounding on the roof as the wind drove the pouring rain in different directions like waves. She sat up straight from her slumped position that she hadn't moved from in the night. The clock on the wall read 9 AM.

"Ha," a voice came from where the hallway connected to the living room. "I think I've really lost it, now."

Etsu's eyes widened at the voice, and she quickly turned to where it came from, knowing whom it was. "Sora?" She asked incredulously. He stood with his thin arms crossed over his chest in disapproval or amusement, expression unreadable. He still dressed the same, typical black, tight clothes. There was something different about him—though he looked the same as he did before Etsu 'died'—his eyes were darker, with purple rings around them as though he hadn't slept in days. He was thinner, almost malnourished-looking. Etsu stood quickly, despite the aching protest in her bones, and rushed over to him.

"You're speaking?" She asked happily.

His eyes narrowed. "It would appear so. But clearly I've lost it if I'm seeing dead people." He shook his head.

"I'm not dead." She told him defiantly.

He nodded—though the disbelief was still apparent—and cocked his head to the side in an owlish manner all too common for him.

"Really, I'm not!" Etsu insisted, pitch of her voice growing higher in desperation.

"Explain to me how that's even possible."

Etsu's eyes narrowed. "Fine." She agreed. "So I jumped off a building and supposedly died. I thought I had died, too, but then I woke up last night to find myself exactly the same, well, except for that I got paler and my hair grew way long. And as I was leaving to go hell knows where, some little purple haired girl who'd been speaking to me stopped me. She apparently put some other me in my head and so I wasn't really me but it was the other person who was a huge airhead. So I didn't die."

He blinked twice. "So…you're saying…you're schizophrenic?"

"NO!" Etsu shrieked. "It's not my fault if people are putting other people in my head when I'm trying to go to hell!"

There was a silence. "Are you still cursed?"

"No." Etsu replied shortly. "Mine was broken by Akito-san."

"Obviously you are if you still look like that."

"What?" Etsu asked, confused.

Sora sighed. "All of the original Outsiders still look exactly the same. We haven't aged or anything since the turn of the new zodiac. We can't die, either, which is probably why you didn't."

"We can't die, either…"

Etsu suddenly remembered what she planned to do before she fell asleep. She clenched a fist and pulled her arm back, landing a swift punch to Sora's face. His lack of guard sent him nearly falling to the ground, yet he caught himself. He stared at her in stunned confusion.

"What the hell was that?" He asked.

"THAT'S FOR YOUR DAMN 'I WANT TO DIE' CONTRACT!" Etsu shrieked furiously. "Did you think that if I found out I wouldn't do anything? What the hell were you thinking when you told that damn Akira you wanted to die in a year?"

"I thought you were dead." He replied bitterly.

This only infuriated her more. She grabbed his shoulders, shaking him roughly. "So what? What would it even matter if I died? I don't want you to go and make suicide contracts just because I'm dead! Come on! I'm not anywhere near important enough for you to go and kill yourself over me."

"Really." It was more of a statement.

Etsu froze, staring at him in angered confusion that quickly turned to remorse. How could she stay angry knowing that she'd caused the darkness in his eyes? She dropped her gaze to the floor. "I'm such an idiot." She muttered. She finally looked up at Sora. "Tell me you'll get better." She requested.

"I don't understand what you mean."

She bit her tongue. "I want you to be happy. I hate seeing you miserable." He opened his mouth to protest, but she cut him off. "I can see it all over your face. Plus, I can tell you haven't been eating." For proof she poked a protruding rib.

"What do you want me to do about it?" He asked darkly.

Etsu smirked lightly, pulling his face closer with her fingertips on his jaw. She leaned in and gently pressed her lips to his. His eyes widened considerably and his face flushed, remaining frozen with surprise for a few seconds before leaning into the kiss. She pulled away, cracking a grin at his embarrassed expression, cheeks stained with red.

"I still love you, you know." She whispered.

-X-

"PATHETIC!" Malicious screeched, throwing a dark green notebook across the room. Kotone quickly dodged it and laughed out loud when it ended up hitting Sono in the face. Malicious glared mercilessly at them.

"Why didn't you stop them when they were kissing?" Venom demanded.

"You didn't tell us to!" Sono argued.

"SO?" Malicious demanded of Sono. "You're ME! You should know to pop up at the most obnoxious moments!"

"But how am I supposed to know if Etsucow is going and slutting around?" Sono asked darkly.

Malicious pulled a black, bulging backpack out of the abyss and zipped it open, letting the contents fall to the floor. There were multiple video cameras and screens, most of the screens displaying what Etsu was doing at the moment. Also included were various spy gears, even grenades.

"What the hell is that?" Kotone and Sono asked in unison.

"It's our stalking equipment." Venom explained proudly. "We use this stuff all the time as we drive around in our hard core stalker van."

"But you're not even old enough to—!"

"SHUT UP!" Malicious interrupted. "Now, you two FAILURES go back and interrupt the hell out of this scene before I end up with her getting another kid!" She turned around defiantly. "Damn characters always buttsecksing without my knowledge…with their fancy birth control…sluts…even the guys…FAILURES!" Malicious suddenly turned around frantically. "Be sure to remind them to use a condom!"

"Kay." Kotone and Sono promised.

"Take three-hundred and forty-four…" Venom muttered, snapping the fancy Hollywood clapper.

Etsu smirked lightly, pulling his face closer with her fingertips on his jaw. She leaned in and—

"STOP RIGHT THERE!" Sono ordered, standing in the doorway with Kotone by her side. They both wore Suzumiya Haruhi cosplay outfits. "PDA is illegal! What the hell do you think you're about to do?"

"But we're not in—!"

"ONLY A FOOL TRIES TO FOOL MR. T!" Sono interrupted a dumbfounded Etsu.

"What?" Etsu asked, confused and freaked out by the sudden interruption.

"You dare bring light to my lair? YOU MUST DIE!" Kotone shrieked suddenly.

"Now, Etsucow," Sono cooed parentally.

"What did you just call me?" Etsu demanded.

Sono ignored her. "I'm sure that there are many things about growing up that you just don't understand, and all of these changes are going to take place very suddenly, and before you know it, you'll be a woman."

"I've already heard—!"

"USE A CONDOM, YOUNG JEDI!" Sono shouted. "DON'T…" She stopped and suddenly burst into a fit of manic laughter. "Oh…oh my god…" She guffawed. "You…. you…you're a forty-five year old **virgin**!"

Kotone laughed along with her. "That's almost as bad as Edward Cullen!" She managed to say.

"From Twilight?" Sora piped up.

"SHUT UP AND GO BACK TO YOUR EMO CORNER!" Kotone shouted. "I BANISH YOU!"

"Shuuuuuuuunnn!" Sono added. "Shun the non-believer! SHUN!"

"I'll break your neck!" Etsu threatened.

"Damn freshmen…" Sono muttered.

"We already graduated high school!" Etsu argued.

Sono clamped her hands over her ears as though trying to drown out the sound and began to scream 'I'm a Little Teapot.'

-THE MADNESS BE OVER-

_(Interruption: Takaya-sensei doesn't specify what Hatori's father's name is, so I just chose one. I made a big-o typo. Kazashi is the older one, and Azami is the younger. Kazashi is the one who killed the people in chapter seven; I just now realized that I'd accidentally switched them.)_

"Are you close to finishing your research?" Azami asked hopefully from her position on the floor next to her sister who nodded in agreement.

Their mother smiled, brunette hair pulled into a loose ponytail. Her eyes were a dark green color, kind. She leaned forward toward the two children. "Let me tell you something," she began. "Your father and I are working very hard, and you needn't worry about us. You two have fun."

"Is there any way we can help?" Kazashi proposed.

Their mother laughed. "Well, since you're so exuberant about it, I'll let you two in on a very big secret, okay?"

They nodded in eager unison.

She pointed to a metal case resting on the desk, latched tightly with a small padlock on it. "That is very important," she explained. "If something ever happens to us and we aren't able to continue our studies, you have to give that to a man named Sohma Hisao. He's a doctor, and a close associate of ours. If you're ever in trouble, call him or his son, Hatori. Hatori is around ten years older than you two, but he'll help you if you need it." She assured them. Her lips moved soundlessly after that.

_I would have never imagined the importance of that conversation._

"Niyuri-chan!" A man stood by his cart of vegetables called out to the two ten-year-old white-haired twins as they walked down the road of trodden earth to the school building, quiet as usual yet radiating a sense of childish innocence. They were conversing softly to each other every now and then, and at the greeting they both blinked and looked up in unison, smiling happily and waving in a cheerful manner.

(Niyuri 'ni' means two, and 'yuri' means lily, so two lilies. It's a nickname.)

The vender waved back and they turned away, skipping down the lane to the tiny school building.

_We though that we had all we could ever ask for in life—a happy home, the kindness and love from many of our neighbors, a nice income that supported the family perfectly…we though that life would always be happy._

_It wasn't._

"Sohma-kun?" Sensei called, reentering the classroom after having left a few minutes before with a police officer. "You…are leaving early today." There was an odd hint of something dark and remorseful in her tone, as though knowing that something horrible was about to happen or be discovered, and she'd known it all along. She didn't dare lay eyes on the twins as they stood in unison, leaving the room silently.

They followed the officer down the hall and outside, stopping at his car.

"Why are we leaving?" The slightly younger (though only by minutes) of the two, Azami asked curiously.

"There's been an incident." The officer explained hurriedly. "It was your father."

Shocked, the older of the two, Kazashi, clambered into the back seat of the car hurriedly, Azami following suit. The officer sped down the road, emitting puffs of tan-colored dust as the wheels thrust the dirt from the road into the air.

As they stopped at the hospital, the officer quickly explained to the receptionist what their purpose for coming was, and a look of sadness crossed over the receptionist's face, and she slowly and mechanically gave them the room number. The slowness of the elevator was nearly agonizing, the twins shifting their weight uneasily as the steep climb continued to delay itself.

"Here we are," the officer presented as though trying to lighten the mood. He pushed open a heavy wooden door.

There was a man lying in the bed, sheets spotted with blood and bandages wrapped tightly around his skull and throat. The twins gasped loudly and hurried over to their father, uncannily similar looks of worry distorting their young features. Azami studied the wounds and began to cry silently, Kazashi allowing her sister to take refuge in her arms.

"What…happened?" Kazashi managed to ask.

The officer sighed sadly. "Not too long ago we got a call saying there was someone in the house. While we don't know exactly what happened, we can infer…"

"Okaa-san!" Azami wailed, pointing to a woman on a nearby bed, sheets stained with blood and bandaged with an eerie resemblance to a mummy.

_It started there._

"So," a legal worker began, tapping a stack of papers on the table to straighten them. "It appears that you have no living close relatives. Who are you going to be living with?"

"Sohma…Hisao." Kazashi answered slowly and quietly after a moment of hesitation. "My parents' associate."

He sighed. "I'm afraid there's no legal availability for us to do that. Are you sure that you can't live with a more distant relative?"

"We don't know any." Azami replied.

The man sighed again, adjusting his glasses. "I guess it can't be helped."

-X-

The twins stood beside a toweringly tall man, his features large and fleshy yet appearing quite strong. He held a strongly visible authority and dressed in plain dark gray. Behind him towered a large run-down house, a rusty old sign reading 'Children's Home' nailed to it in a crude manner looming in the distance.

"I apologize for any trouble." The legal worker concluded in a rushed manner, opening the door of the car. As he drove away, the man smiled serenely, waving. As soon as he was out of sight, the man's face contorted in anger.

"Follow me." He hissed.

Terrified, they followed him throughout the corridors of the building, hearing the horrified screams of children and sounds of crashing, threats being uttered and apologies being screamed at the top of someone's lungs. There were guards, similar in appearance to the man in charge, stationed in the hallways. They passed a small birdcage on a wrought iron stand, a small golden key lying inside.

"You will call me Master, not anything else." The man explained roughly. "If you cause a disturbance or are ill-behaved, you will be punished. Those are the rules. If you are caught sneaking out, we will kill you with no hesitation." He threw open the door to a mid-sized room, many futons lain out on the floor. "NOW SLEEP!" He roared, pushing them inside violently and slamming the door.

-X-

"Ah!" A boy exclaimed as he accidentally sent his bowl of soup falling to the floor where it splashed on the carpet. Everyone at the long dining table held his or her breath as a guard stepped forward, placing a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry!" The boy quickly apologized in sheer terror.

"It's okay," the guard smiled maliciously. "Eat it."

The boy smiled hopefully. "Right!" And he picked up the bowl from the floor, spooning out what was left. The guard's grip on his shoulder increased and he pulled the boy from his chair onto the floor, smashing his face where the wet area from the soup was on the floor.

"EAT IT!" The guard ordered. "All of it!"

-That night-

"Did you know?" A girl with two brunette braids that hung just below her shoulders whispered, the bright light of the moon making the inhabitants of the room visible as they lay propped up on their elbows in their futons, leaning towards each other. "There's a children's center over the hill where the woman in charge is kind and caring—I've heard that everyone calls her mother." She began to cry. "I want to get out of here! I want to go somewhere kind and warm and motherly!"

"The key in the bird cage," another girl, one with jaw-length black hair took a deep breath. "The key in the birdcage in the hallway is the one that unlocks those big back doors." She smiled a dark yet excited smile. "We can get out and go where it's kind and warm and motherly!"

"We'll get caught!" The girl with braids whimpered. "Don't you know what they do if you get caught?"

"We won't get caught." The girl's tone was sly. "Once there was a group of kids who escaped." Her tone went serious. "And only one of them got caught. Want to know why?" She didn't bother letting them answer. "Because all of the kids ran in different directions. They're probably really happy now."

"But…one of us will…" The girl with braids squeaked.

"Would you rather stay in this hell or have a chance of getting out? Even if you're the one that gets caught, wouldn't you rather die than stay here?" The black-haired girl snapped. "I'd rather risk it."

"But—!" The braided girl collapsed into tears again. "I'm scared!"

The black-haired girl sighed and looked away from her. "I, personally, would risk it all just to get out of here. But I'll need help. Azami, Kazashi—what about you?" She asked demandingly.

"We'll do it." Kazashi replied surely. Azami nodded in a dazed manner.

The black-haired girl smirked. "Good. Once you get out, run for the top of the hill and never, ever look back. If you make even the slightest hesitation, you'll slow down and increase your risk of getting caught. Once you get to the top of the hill, call out the English word 'light' and wait for the rest of us." Her eyes darkened. "I do really need all of you to make this work."

A blonde-haired girl, who'd been silent the entire time, finally spoke up. "Ginka-san, I'll make sure that no one catches us. I'll be the lookout."

The black-haired girl, Ginka, nodded and continued, "If you happen to get caught, don't give up without a fight. Do whatever it takes to get free."

They all nodded.

"Let's go." Ginka ordered, standing up.

-X-

"It's not working, it's not working!" The girl with braids whimpered as Ginka struggled to fit the key into the lock, scowling.

"It's worked before, I know it has!" Ginka hissed, continuing to struggle with the lock. The blonde suddenly gasped loudly as a light flicked on down the corridor and the sound of distant footsteps approaching became audible.

"Someone's coming!" She announced in a frantic whisper. Ginka gritted her teeth and increased her speed in trying to open the door.

"What are you doing there?" One of the two guards demanded, appearing behind them. The girl with braids clamped her hand over her mouth to keep from screaming. It was at that instant that the lock gave a loud click and the door flew open, the five children running out and scrambling.

"Sohma Hisao!" Kazashi yelled to Azami before she was out of her sight. "Call Sohma Hisao!"

Azami disappeared into a large gathering of trees and Kazashi ran as fast as she possibly could, frantic as she sensed a presence behind her. As she ran she turned to see two beams of light from a flashlight following her, and she let out a bloodcurdling scream as she continued to run, trying to mentally control the horrified shaking of her knees that threatened to give out at any moment. She felt her face collide with something hard and slippery as thunder crashed overhead, and she felt obligated to scream again as she realized that she'd ran into a wall of dampened earth—a dead end.

Flashlights beamed behind her, and she frantically tried to climb up the earthen mound, only to fall back to the ground painfully. Squinting her eyes shut, when she finally opened them, she stared into the furious faces of two of the guards—one of them being Master. He stalked forward and grabbed her face, trying to pull her away.

"If you happen to get caught, don't give up without a fight. Do whatever it takes to get free."

Desperately, Kazashi turned her head enough to have her lips near his thumb. She bit down on it roughly, refusing to let go as he howled. As she remembered her promise to her mother to carry on the information to Hisao, she bit down even harder—and broke through the skin. The metallic taste of blood erupted in her mouth and she pulled away, spitting his blood onto the ground. As he wrung his hand in pain she ran around the perimeter of the dead end, searching for an escape.

Finally, one showed itself, a woodsy cut-through leading into a muddy clearing. Rain had begun to pour down, lightning illuminating the sky and thunder crashing loudly like heavenly cymbals. Finally allowing herself to slow down behind an immense oak tree, Kazashi slumped down, allowing the tears to pour freely down her cheeks.

"What did I do, Kami-sama?" She demanded in a whisper. "What did Azami do?" The thunder brought no answer. "My dad once said, 'the world is full of bad times and good times, and neither lasts very long'! If that's the case, take back all this misery and give me my fortune!" She cried, standing up and spreading her arms. "If you hate me so much, why won't you kill me? Sohma Kazashi right here!" She shouted to the thunder and lightning. "KILL ME! KILL ME! HURRY UP AND KILL ME!" She screamed manically. "KILL ME LIKE YOU KILLED MY MOM AND DAD!" The lightning flashed and thunder crashed louder than usual, undoubtedly striking down in the clearing. Kazashi fell to her knees, covering her head.

Slowly, she looked around, surprised that she hadn't been hit. Where the large oak had been, there was now a blackened, smoldering stump that smelled strongly of smoke. Kazashi stood and laughed loudly, insanely. "I won, Kami-sama!" She shrieked. "I won! I won! Now you have to take back this misery!" The laugher stopped, and tears began to trickle down her paled face. "Kami-sama…" she whispered. "…Doesn't exist."

The light from the guard's flashlights appeared behind her again, followed by voices. "Where'd she go?" One asked.

"She's around here somewhere." Another growled.

Kazashi ran for her life out of the clearing and back into the woods, eventually ending up at a small lake. She ran to the other side of the river, through a small gazebo and up the rock-lined path. She nearly cried of happiness when she saw the most glorious and out of place standing before her: a phone booth. She ran inside, shutting the door quickly.

She sat down on the floor of the booth, wrapping her arms around her knees. "It's warm…" she whispered. Her eyelids felt heavy, and she allowed them to slide shut, dozing off. She awoke a few hours later, in the very dead of the night. She jolted up, eyes wide as raindrops pounded against the glass as she remembered the pursuit, wondering stupidly if she'd been caught before realizing that she was alone in the booth. Her hands fell to the floor limply and brushed against something cold and metal. She glanced over; gasping as she realized it was a coin. She hurriedly picked it up and stood, picking up the receiver of the phone.

"Sohma Hisao," she murmured, trying to think of his number, realizing with a depressing sinking feeling that she didn't know it. She remembered with a start her mother's silent mouth movements, and memorized them in her mind, trying to mimic them.

"San…ichi…ku…ni…" She gasped. "Sohma Hisao-san's phone number!" She announced to herself in discovery. She pushed the coin into the slot, dialing the number as she struggled to remember. A pang of hope shot through her as the phone rang, and she began breathing heavily as her heart rate sped up.

"Moshimoshi?" ("Hello?") A male voice asked on the other line.

"Sohma-san?" Kazashi asked, surprised at the darkness in and low volume of her voice.

"Yes, this is Sohma Hatori."

Ice shot through her veins before remembering that he was Hisao's son. She relaxed. "This is Sohma Kazashi."

"What do you need, Kazashi-san?" Hatori asked. He sounded to be around nineteen, maybe twenty.

"I'm…Sohma Haruka and Sohma Jiro's daughter." She explained slowly.

"I think my father might have mentioned them before," Hatori replied. "Did something happen to them?"

Kazashi bit her lip. "My parents…were killed." She willed herself to say.

"How very unfortunate…they were probably good people."

"They told me…to call you…if something happened to them." She whispered.

"In that case, what business do you have?"

"HELP—!" She started. The line suddenly went dead with another particularly loud crash of thunder and flash of lightning and she realized in horror that the phone lines had probably been corrupted. She was helpless.

Kazashi left the booth cautiously, knowing that she was in more danger staying in one place than getting to the hill. She ran again, though not as quickly as before due to the fact that she wasn't being followed closely. Suddenly, footsteps sounded behind her. Kazashi gasped and ran as fast as her worn legs could carry her.

"Kazashi-oneechan!" A familiar voice called.

Kazashi turned quickly to see Azami sprinting toward her, fancy blue dress that she'd been wearing, the one she'd packed when she'd heard they were going to a children's center, ripped and muddy. Her hair was unkempt, face ashen and tears streaming down her dirty cheeks. Kazashi caught her twin in an embrace.

"Baka Azami." She muttered. "Why did you follow me? It's dangerous."

Azami frowned. "Because I love you, Kazashi-oneechan."

The wind rustled the trees, but Kazashi took it as a warning nevertheless. She clutched Azami's hand, running at full speed in the direction of the hill.

"They're behind us!" Azami whispered frantically, and sure enough seconds later flashlights came into view.

"Run as fast as you can!" Kazashi hissed, continuing to run through the path in the forest, preparing to run up the stairs to the top of the cliff-like hill. A rough hand caught she and Azami by the shoulder, tucking under their arms. Kazashi thrashed wildly, trying to get free. Finally, she gave up, realizing that the struggle was of no use against them.

She was going to die. She knew it.

-X-

"Etsu-san," Hatori glanced over at the girl sitting in his office, complaining of a bad headache. The young girl was slumped over, hair covering her eyes; face expressionless as she rubbed her temples in a circular motion, wincing every now and then.

"There's…something…" Etsu muttered, not looking up. "It's like something in me is hurting…really badly…"

Hatori was taken aback at the valid proof of the close connection between the Outsiders and their god. But which one was it that was in danger? Suddenly he remembered the odd phone call he'd received a few hours before. Kazashi, she'd called herself. "Can you hear a name? Echoing phrases?"

Etsu was silent a moment. "Yeah. It says 'help me'."

Hatori quickly began to trace the area in which the call had been made, glancing over at Etsu occasionally. After what seemed like eternities but had only been a few minutes, he stared at a map of the area code the call had been made in. He turned to Etsu. "I think there's something happening to a member of your Outsiders."

"Get your car." Etsu hopped down from the couch.

-X-

"Gomen nasai!" Kazashi repeated the phrase, as she was drug by her hair down the hallway by a furious Master. "Gomen nasai! GOMEN NASAI!"

Master kicked the door open to a small, dark room with a single bench in it. Azami was seated on it, staring at her twin with an expression of utter horror, her arms and legs bound with thick rope. Master smiled sadistically at Kazashi and held up his thumb for her to see. There was a white bandage wrapped around it. Kazashi gasped loudly as he slammed her against the wall, his hands around her throat.

As he began to tighten his grip, the door opened, light from the hallway flooding in. Two guards stood in its wake. They pointed to the twins and nodded. Master growled under his breath and dropped Kazashi to the floor. Azami managed to stand after Kazashi quickly untied the rope. They followed the guards to the front gate, where two people were waiting.

One was a young girl, around their age, with long, dark gray, brown-flecked hair and furious copper eyes. The second was a man, around twenty, with grown-out dark brown hair that covered his left eye. The young girl stepped forward, pointing a thin finger at one of the guards.

"You want to explain to me exactly what you were trying to do to them? She demanded angrily. They didn't respond, which irritated her more. "You sick freaks!" She cried accusatorily. "Do you take pleasure in seeing young children in pain? Do you? What is wrong with you?"

"Etsu-san," the man warned.

"Shut up, Hatori-niisan!" She hissed. "They were trying to kill them!"

"Go to the car." Hatori explained to the twins, ignoring the girl who he'd called Etsu. The twins nodded in a slow unison, clambering into the car silently. The driver was stoic at the steering wheel. Finally, after some particularly loud arguing with the guards, Etsu and Hatori got into the car.

"Hey," Etsu acknowledged. "Can I call you two Kyoumi? As a nickname?" She asked curiously. Azami nodded. Kazashi's expression was utterly blank.

"Don't pester them," Hatori scolded. "They've been through a lot."

"You're going to live with Hatori-niisan." Etsu explained.

-X-

"No, not like that." Hatori corrected a thirteen-year-old Kazashi's hand position over the mannequin's eyes. "With that kind of motion, all you'll do is edit their memories, not erase them."

"Isn't that kind of the same thing?" Kazashi asked.

"To erase them is to dispose of them permanently. Editing only changes them. It's not the same at all." Hatori sighed.

"I'm no good at this memory erasing stuff." Kazashi admitted. "Can I just stick with the editing?" She asked hopefully.

"I doubt you'll find a use for it." Hatori replied pessimistically.

Kazashi shrugged. "Maybe I will."

Hatori sighed again. "The first fox, Sohma Ichigo, didn't get as close as you, though. He ended up being able to revive memories instead of erase them."

"You've had all three foxes living here!" Kazashi gaped.

"And they all have that same determination to never give it up until they're positive they can't do it." Hatori scolded. Kazashi laughed sheepishly.

"Tadaima!" Azami called out from the front door nearby.

"Speak of the devil," Kazashi laughed, noticing a scowling Ichigo by her side. "Hi, orange-head."

"I TOLD YOU THAT'S NOT MY NAME!"

Kazashi only laughed.

_I thought that my troubles had finally left me behind. Yet…I was horribly wrong._

"What happened to her?" A fifteen-year-old Kazashi asked incredulously, feeling a strong wave of déjà vu as she stood by the hospital bed, staring at her twin's unconscious form instead of her parents'.

"She's not going to live." A doctor informed Hatori, who was unfortunately overheard by a suddenly hysteric Kazashi.

"NO!" She cried. "Azami can't die! She can't!"

"Kazashi, let's go." Hatori murmured.

"NO!" Kazashi shrieked. "DO SOMETHING!" She pointed at the doctor. "SAVE HER! I KNOW YOU CAN!"

_I realized something. I had to become her. I had to be her. I began living with Hatori full time rather than going to a different children's center (one I had previously attended with Azami) during the weekdays. I had never found comfort there, considering the constant teasing of the boys who know of our possession._

_We did horrible things during those times._

_Though I knew that Azami never would have wanted me to pose as her, I couldn't help but feel as though I'd found a loophole in that reasoning._

_I edited memories of all who knew her, fixing it to where I had been the only one, that thee had never been twins—only me. There would be no Kazashi, no Azami, either. Instead, in our place, was the personality I'd adopted as impersonation as my sister while I could not bring myself to use her name._

_I wouldn't be Azami._

_I would become Kyoumi._


	11. Chapter 10

A/N: I CANNOT BELIEVE THIS TOOK SO LONG! Let me explain to you why it took forever and thirty years for this chapter to get out: first, I left my computer on during a storm and it crashed. Then, I had to re-image it and everything was deleted. Then, when I got it working again, I had to ask around to see if anyone had Microsoft Word, and then I finally got it and then I procrastinated - a** LOT** -, and now here I am. (Not to mention the extra weeks of re-brainstorming to think up what was going to happen in this chapter.)

Please do not kill me, for then you won't know how it ends.

Here is chapter ten. In seven chapters comes the big huge revealing of the bigger, huge-er secret. Venom knows what it is. So I guess I shouldn't make it too sudden. Be a gradient, not a KA-BAM, Malicious…

By the way:

_Word_ thoughts/point of view (in a flashback)

_Word_ past (in a flashback)

Ririko is a bitch. I'm glad I killed her off.

I AM CHANGING SEN'S CHARACTER SONG. It is now On My Own by The Used. I was listening to it and I realized—wow, it describes her better as the story progresses. Most of the way it describes her has yet to be revealed, so bear with me.

Ten's song is now The Bird and the Worm by The Used. (ANOTHER song by them? Yes. Shut up.)

* * *

Once there was a woman who lived in a small, humble home atop a large cliff overlooking a town. She bore in mind that if she were to leave her home and travel to the town, she would meet many people and break her loneliness, yet she found herself incapable of leaving, insisting instead that her life was accounted for, and thus she remained in her home.

As time went on, her resources began to slowly trickle down into nothing, and the woman found herself in poverty.

One day an old black cat came to her door, and the woman welcomed it inside. Though she had not much to give, she fed the cat as well as she could manage. The cat thanked her and said,

"I'm afraid I'm quite lonely, seeing as my child has left me and gone to the man on the hill not far from here. They appear to be quite happy. Today I happened to notice while passing, your home. Will you keep me company until my time comes and I leave this world?"

The woman agreed, though hesitantly, knowing that she did not have enough to get by with both of them. Though as the days passed the woman managed to provide enough for the both of them to live.

One day a fox arrived on her doorstep.

"I have been forbidden to return to the home of the man on the hill," it explained. "I could not help but notice your home. I have nowhere left to return to." The fox smiled slyly. "May I stay with you? If I must say, I find myself to be quite good at retrieving food, which you appear to lack."

The woman smiled kindly and accepted the fox into her home. Life became easier with the fox's hunting expertise, and the woman felt the blessing of fortune entering her life. The sun rose and fell as per usual, yet the nights never seemed to last long in her now joyful home. For months they lived in peace, unchanging.

That is, until the day an owl scratched at the windowpane.

Upon the window being open, it hooted, "My home has been destroyed in a storm and I have nowhere to go. May I stay with you? I will assist you with my wholesome knowledge, for I bear confidence in saying that I am quite knowledgeable."

The woman smiled, though rather warily, and accepted the owl into her home. Aided by the fox's hunting, the owl's interesting information, and the cat's company, they lived in harmony, never changing, entirely the same for what seemed to be eternities. The nights appeared shorter as the seasons came and went.

Finally came today that a saddened wolf came to the door.

"I am afraid that I have lost my home as the man atop the hillside has passed away. In the end, I was never allowed to promise my eternal soul to him, and I'm afraid that I feel quite grievous and guilty. May I please stay here? I will protect your home."

The woman smiled, sadly this time at the lack of room that remained in her home, and made to accept the wolf in, though an interruption was made.

"I would not dare to enter your home. As your newfound protector, I will remain outside, watching."

The woman guiltily closed the door on the wolf's orders. They lived a safe and happy life, until finally the dying day of the woman, not lonely anymore, appeared. The animals worried by her bedside as she acknowledged each of them. Her hand went up and her fingers stroked the wolf's fur.

"Ookami, you have protected me for all of these happy years. Will you promise me to stay together, create a bond, become my successor if my original should fail, so that we may go on living eternally?"

The wolf promised surely, sadly, and the woman, old now, smiled sadly in response, acknowledging the other animals. They all promised, and one by one, they died. The last was the old mother cat, and as she recapped her life a small smile fell across her lips. As she died, she said,

"We have lived happy lives here," the cat whispered between labored breaths. "But now those lives will come to an end, such as all things do. How long will it take for the kind woman's successor to be born into this ugly yet beautiful world?" Her question remained unanswered as her breaths faded away, her heartbeat stopped.

-x-

God told the animals, "I'm having a party tomorrow—do not be late!"

The cunning rat lied to his neighbor, the cat, and informed him that the party would be the day after tomorrow, and the cat excitedly thanked the rat for the information. In order to ensure the rest of the guest's arrival, assuming that the rat had already told the others, the cat made sure to give the information to the wolf, the owl and the fox.

The next day, God and the animals enjoyed their feast…all but the four that had been left out.

-x-

"_Ichigo is…twisted."_

_The crowd was not silent, mingled voices of separate conversation echoed throughout the nonexistent room, the mental crowd of voices increasing in a deafening crescendo, though the particular phrases seemed to wipe them all out whenever it spoke, lowering them to a nearly inaudible volume while their words were not decipherable._

"He's seen so much death and destruction, not to mention being the cause of the majority of it, that you really should just give up on him."

_What was this conversation?_

"_Ririko-san, trying to take this boy in would cause you nothing but trouble."_

_Yet her smile stayed intact as she answered, the grave undertones in her voice perfectly noticeable. "I believe that I can handle this."_

No, you can't handle me! Don't say untrue things like that. You're going to die because of me.

The scene changed.

"_Why do I only hurt people?"_

_She knew the answer, yet it was impossible to say, "Because you're a monster," to him. She'd been trusted with the job of looking after this…murderer. Ririko wasn't going to give up and fail all that she had been entrusted with, what no one else had even bothered to try and take…she _despised_ this child, yet had to keep him with her._

_She wasn't going to lose to this thing. _

"_Where did you hear that?" Ririko asked in a falsely kind voice, crouching down to be eye-level with Ichigo for added effect._

_His reply was a stubborn statement of, "I know it." _

_She gritted her teeth as he looked down, glaring at the floor. If he realized that, why was he still _alive_? Why did he still burden the world with his presence? Her eyes narrowed. This was becoming unbearable. She couldn't continue pretending to love something that truly did love her as a parent, something that had killed his real parents and now tried to cling to her as though she would save him._

_She wouldn't help him. No, he was the one at fault in this situation._

There was a conversation with that girl that contained things I never thought I would tell anyone. It was shortly after Kami-nee died.

"_There's something missing." Ichigo muttered, looking up into the dark blue-violet sky, strewn with stars. The full moon in the sky was the only light source, considering that all of the lights inside Shigure's house were turned off. He found himself on the roof, sitting beside a silently listening Tohru, whose expression was empathetic. He let himself fall backward, onto his back._

_Ichigo propped himself up on his elbows. "I don't really know if it's a memory or what, but something is just…not there." His eyes narrowed. "But it seems like someone else knows exactly what it is, and they're just not telling me anything."_

_Tohru clasped her hands together absentmindedly. "My mother," she began softly, "always said that it's important to remember. If you have memories, you'll know that you're alive."_

"_What memories?" Ichigo asked with a smirk. "They're gone. All of them. Does that make me _dead_?"_

"Oh, no, Ichigo-san!" Tohru apologized. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend you…but maybe if you tried to remember, they'd come back."

"Don't apologize." Ichigo ordered shortly, freezing up slightly at her expression that displayed that she was prepared to sink back as though he were about to scream at her. "I…hate apologies." He finished grudgingly.

"It's important to know if someone is sorry, isn't it?" Tohru asked wisely. "If someone has hurt you and they regret it, isn't it important to know if they're sorry so that you can move along as though it never happened?"

"But that's just stupid." Ichigo hissed. "As if someone would ever regret hurting me."

"Why do you think that way?"

The statement floored him. Ichigo stared at her, eyebrows furrowed in annoyed confusion. Why shouldn't he think like that? It was the truth, wasn't it? He turned away from her, sitting up and looking away, bangs covering his eyes.

"Because this life…is just like waiting in line to die." Ichigo muttered finally. "It's as though my mind is already dead, and I'm just waiting for my body to catch up."

-

"Ichigo-kun!"

A familiar voice, and a familiar face I can remember sometimes. It's only that one statement, my name, and then sometimes she's crying and someone is hugging her. But I've noticed that it isn't one somehow familiar face, but two.

Two…

Ichigo's eyes flew open, fearful, and he lies still, shaking and breathing heavily. Two. What was it about that number that was so unsettling, all of a sudden? What were there two of? He sat up slowly, grasping his head and trying to remember. There was something, an elusive slip of memory, which remained out of his reach. And then suddenly there was everything.

Summers bloomed in his mind, the trees buzzing with the chirping cicadas, summer winds blowing their branches lightly. There were two identical white-haired girls, one laughing and the other hanging back slightly, and there were the drums of the festival ringing in his ears.

Somewhere, the summer of a forgotten piece of his past clicked into place.

-Past-

"I did something." Azami admitted, hanging her head as they sat together on the steps leading up to one of the village's temples. "I know I did. Because onee-chan has been sad, and I know it's all my fault."

"Kazashi-kun?" Ichigo asked, confused. "I didn't really notice anything wrong with her." He shrugged. "Maybe that's just me."

Azami shook her head slowly. "I can tell that there's something wrong with her."

"That's her problem, isn't it?"

Azami looked down at her feet. "If I'm going to be a burden to Onee-chan, maybe I should leave this world."

-Present-

"Kazashi," he muttered. That was the name he'd forgotten. Ichigo blinked a few times, feeling a cold hard surface beneath him and quickly realized that he was on the floor. Scowling, he dressed quickly and ran from the house. He had questions for Kazashi.

-X-

"I don't know what you're talking about." Kazashi murmured, leaning against one of the bridge supports. The wind blew her hair to and fro and she closed her eyes, brows furrowed at her failure. She had made sure that no one would ever remember. It had to be an illusion of some sort.

Ichigo scowled. "I know that you do. You had a twin, and her name was Azami. You used to live in Minamizawa while your parents were alive, then when they died you were sent to a children's home in a different city."

"Where would you ever hear that?" Kazashi asked simply.

Ichigo's scowl grew more profound. "I remembered what Azami had told me. You erased it, didn't you? My memory."

"You know, Ichigo-kun," Kazashi hesitated slightly. "That time, when you told Azami about how you killed your parents, do you know why it scared her so much?"

"I thought you said that she didn't exist." Ichigo hissed. "Any logical person would be afraid to be in the same room as a murderer."

"It's because we used to do things like that," Kazashi continued as though he hadn't spoken. "You can say that being in that place and that night we tried to escape, all the death, destruction, hatred…all of the ugliness of this world that we'd seen had twisted us until we were close to reaching the 'homicidal maniac' level." As Ichigo started to speak, Kazashi cut him off. "You always said that Ichigo wasn't your real name, right? Well, Kyoumi was never mine."

"You're lying." Ichigo muttered.

"Wasn't it nice, not knowing?" Kazashi asked lightly. "Wasn't it nice and safe when you didn't remember us? Wouldn't you like to go back to that safe numbness?"

"It was like being dead."

A scowl tainted her features. "You would rather remember horrible, nightmarish things than not know anything at all?"

Ichigo clenched a fist, gritting his teeth. "Of course." He hissed. "You have to have memories to know that you're alive."

"Memories mean nothing." Kazashi laughed darkly. "Remembering only proves that we have been somewhere, that we did live at some point—I mean this in past-tense. Do you really call this, whatever it is right now, living?"

"It will end!" Ichigo argued. "If there's a curse, there's a way to break it, right? It happened last time. If you knew that the curse was going to break and that Kami-nee was going to die, why do you not know this time?"

Kazashi glared scathingly at him. "When are you going to give up on the wolf? Why do you keep calling her 'Kami-nee'? She's not god."

Ichigo laughed darkly. "Have you finally gone mad? What was that twenty-seven years ago about 'the wolf acts as our god'? Was that all a lie?"

"The wolf acts as the god until the appropriate heir is born." Kazashi hissed.

"What the hell are you talking about?"

Kazashi sighed in annoyance. "You've seen Koyuu, haven't you?" She didn't wait for an answer. "The only reason she's here is because she's the heir of the man on the hill back before the Sohma were possessed. The man who made the promise agreed to leave the title of god to a special member of the zodiac until his heir could be born. Koyuu is dead. That's why we still have a god this time. If she had been born into this world, we wouldn't have one." She hesitated slightly, eyeing Ichigo's look of incomprehension. "As you remember from the folk tale, the Outsiders did not attend the party with god, or the original man who cursed us. We went to someone else. We're still waiting for our heir. Do you know what this means? We haven't had an heir in centuries. Since Koyuu has appeared in this world, living or not, it can only mean that the Outsider heir is somewhere, whether it's already been born or not.

"When that heir is born, or awakened, our curse can be broken."

Ichigo sighed in exasperation. "You always tell me things like this, and they're usually right, but I never really understand it."

Kazashi looked away. "That's a good thing, isn't it?"

-X-

I was born with a disease called Congenial Insensitivity to Pain with Anhidrosis, commonly abbreviated to CIPA. Because of it, I cannot feel pain. For as long as I can remember it's put me apart from other people, whether it was the fact that I have to be extremely careful in all that I do, or the simple fact that I'm different.

I have the sense of touch. I can feel the coldness of rain, but not the nick of a razor. In my brain, the pain signal is stopped as it's issued. I can feel the cold metal of a blade and I can see the gash on my skin, but other than that it's as though the cut isn't there. My family thought of my disease as being part of the zodiac curse, which they always thought to be an evil entity.

If I didn't have the disease, I would be able to feel the impact of the club used to try and beat the curse out of me instead of just the strange feeling of the impact without pain. I would be able to truly feel sorry for being born instead of just having to say that I suffered from the beatings.

In a world where you're separated from a crowd by such a ghastly disease, it's often difficult to find others who relate to you.

"All done." The doctor announced, and the young girl sitting on the stool before her stood slowly, turning in the direction of the door.

It was a daily routine, whether she was in the hospital or not, to be checked for any injuries that might have accidentally been inflicted. She found herself in the hospital after her mother had gotten the angriest she'd ever seen her, screaming and throwing things. Her hand automatically went up to her shoulder, feeling the padding of the bandage through the pale blue hospital robe.

The door swung open, and Shi jumped out of its wake to avoid a collision that wouldn't hurt, even if she felt it.

"Oh…sorry." A girl's voice apologized from the other side. Shi glanced over to the stranger, taking in her features. Her hair fell to the middle of her back and was a golden orange in color. Her eyes were large and emerald in color, staring at her. She, too, wore a pale blue robe.

"Ah, Sohma-san," the doctor called.

Shi turned quickly, expecting the doctor to be speaking to her. Instead her gaze was fixed on the golden-haired girl. Shi cocked her head to the side in slight confusion.

"Sohma-san, do you need something?" The doctor asked, looking at Shi this time.

Confused, Shi shook her head simply and exited the room, leaving in the direction of her room.

-x-

"Pardon the intrusion,"

Shi glanced over at the door as it opened, expecting to see a nurse, uniform-clad, bringing food or medication. Instead she recognized the features of the girl she'd seen earlier, her head tilted slightly to the side and one hand still on the door. She entered the room, shutting the door behind her, and leaned against it, her hands behind her back and a strange expression.

"That nurse," she stared. "She called us both 'Sohma-san.'"

Shi nodded.

"Does that mean that you're a Sohma, too?" The girl asked, rather excitedly.

Shi nodded again.

The girl looked around, eyes shifty. "Do you know about the…you know…are you on the inside?" She asked in a low volume.

"I'm possessed by the spirit of the dragon." Shi answered mechanically.

The girl's face lit up, and she pranced across the room, hugging Shi tightly. "I'm Sohma Roku, the monkey!" She announced.

The monkey…

"I'm leaving soon. I was only here for x-rays and a check-up for my CIPA." Roku continued. Shi froze on the spot at the last word.

"What?" Shi asked slowly, eyes wide.

"CIPA?" Roku asked. "It's a disease—a pretty rare one. Haven't you heard of it before?"

"I have it."

Roku's eyes widened, and a small silence passed. "NO WAY!" Roku squealed, throwing her arms around Shi once again. "We both have CIPA, we're both Sohma, and we're both in the Juunishi! That is so weird!"

"Ironic." Shi agreed.

I had always listened to my parents, believed them when they told me that there was no one in the world who would ever understand me.

They were wrong.

-X-

It's not like I've forgotten. It's not like I ever will. If I can't sever this bond, I'll just stay as pathetic as I always am for my entire life, afraid of trying to stand on my own. I can't cling to him forever—it's amazing that he even lets me.

In the movies, your eyelids flutter dramatically for a few seconds before opening to reveal perfectly clear (and confused) eyes staring up into the intensified hospital lights, hearing the saddened sobs of your family and friends that slowly begin to end as they realize with utter glee that you're alive.

Instead, Ichise's eyelids felt as though she were trying to bench press 50-pound weights on them. She groaned unglamorously and attempted moving an arm to throw over her eyes, or maybe at least use her thin, long fingers to pry her eyes open in hopes of seeing what the hell was going on. The 'moving' thing turned out to be ineffective, and she scowled, which lead to a wince in pain at the movement. Her body felt numb and heavy—which utterly disgusted her—and her head felt as though the contents of it were drowning in something thicker than water…oil, maybe.

And then she heard the laughter.

Ignoring all future numbness, she managed to sum up enough energy to force her eyes open, pupils shrinking rapidly at the intensified whiteness of the room though the darkness caused by the rain outside the window didn't change the brightness. The world went fuzzy for a few seconds as the oil spun everything around in her head. She turned her pupils on the source of the sound, knowing already who it was. She attempted glaring, yet knew that it must have resulted as an unconvincing frown with her weakness.

Her visitor was sitting in a chair, arms crossed over his chest and a smirk on his beautiful-by-Sohma-genes face, as everyone else believed he was. His shaggy white hair was shaking slightly as he laughed, shoulders rising and nearly making the black chunks in the back visible. He raised his eyebrows in amusement at her unhappy expression and uncrossed his arms.

"Aw, are you not glad to see me, Ichise-chan?" Kaito teased.

"When…am I…ever?" She croaked through numb lips and a dry throat, wincing slightly at the ache in her lungs as she spoke. Kaito feigned a hurt expression. The teasing air to the hurt in his expression flickered and crashed visibly and he tensed, glaring slightly and tilting his head back.

"We're all worried about you." He informed her.

"They're wasting their energy," Ichise replied defiantly.

"You say that," Kaito muttered. "But still you pull these stunts for attention."

Ichise sat up stiffly, an angered expression twisting her features. "Attention?" She hissed. "It's not attention. No—just shut up. I'm sick of hearing you. I'm sick of everything about you. All of you—and you can go ahead and tell the damn Jyuunishi that I said that. Hurry up and activate the trigger or whatever you're calling her so that we can be normal. If not, then I'm going to hire someone to corrupt my eardrums into deafness." She concluded with an angered sigh.

There was a silence.

Kaito stood rapidly and stalked away for the door. "If you feel that way, I'm leaving." He announced.

"It's nothing worth going _Black_ over!" Ichise hissed, scratching her long, black fingernails down the metal bedpost, emitting a high screeching sound. "If you really care about me so much then get out!"

At that moment a nurse swung the door open, a worried expression on her face quickly turning to slight surprise as she stared into the darkened eyes of the teenager behind it. "I-Is everything alright in here?" She stammered.

Ichise pointed to Kaito. "Escort him to the door."

"Is he bothering you?" The nurse asked worriedly.

"Very much so."

The nurse sighed and turned to Kaito. "I'm going to have to ask you to leave. You're proving to be problematic for the patient's recovery."

Kaito pushed past her furiously, slamming the heavy wooden door behind him. An earsplitting crash and the angry calls of nurses (probably with toppled-over carts of now-broken dishes) sounded shortly after. Ichise sighed in exhaustion and dropped onto her back, staring up at the ceiling with narrowed eyes.

_How long can I go _without_ saying something hurtful?_

-X

"Ichise is in the hospital again." Yukio sighed darkly, hand cupping his jaw as he leaned over the kotatsu. A reaction came quickly from Kyo, a moody sigh of exasperation.

"What did she do?"

"You're acknowledging each other…" Sen muttered flatly.

There was a silence.

"SHUT UP YOU DAMN NEZUMI!" Kyo shouted, pointing angrily at Yukio. "NO ONE ASKED YOU!"

"I didn't say anything." Yukio replied in a bored voice. "But they don't know what happened to her, since she won't tell them anything. She's apparently secretly been in the hospital for a while, now. She's getting out soon, though."

Sen tuned out the conversation, considering that she didn't know whom the particular person was. Satoru's gaze would occasionally flicker over to Kyo and Yukio, otherwise never straying from the pages of the book of classic English literature that he had become entwined in—a famous work of a playwright called William Shakespeare. Interested, Kyo leaned forward.

"Think she got beat up?" He laughed darkly as though imagining it. "Serves her right—none of us liked her in the first place."

"I wouldn't be saying things like that, Kyo." Yukio's tone remained calm, though behind it hostility was raging. "Considering that you're hardly more liked than Ichise is."

"Shut up, you two." Sen muttered exasperatedly, adjusting the blinds on the window to observe the rain that fell down in thick sheets, thunder rumbling somewhere in the distance as lightning illuminated the sky.

"Blame that damn rat!" Kyo hissed, irritated. He jerked his head to the side defiantly, hissing under his breath in disgust. "Comparing me to a filthy copy like her—he's really full of himself!" In an instant Kyo had jumped up, throwing a nearby bowl of oranges to the floor where it rotated on the spot for a few seconds before settling.

"Don't abuse the fruit, Kyo." Satoru muttered, not looking up from the book.

"URUSAI!" Kyo shouted, stalking forward challengingly. "Let's do this you damn rat! I'm going to beat you this time!"

"First, you've said that nearly fifteen times today." Sen added flatly. "And second, the way you worded that sounds as though you're about to make love to him under the kotatsu."

"YOU'RE SO VULGAR!" Kyo shouted accusatorily at the unashamed Sen.

"I think that's the other way around." Yukio retorted. "I'll have to make sure I lock my door tonight."

"You guys always mess with me like that!" Kyo shouted in annoyance. "Get ready, nezumi!" And with that he sprinted to Yukio's side of the kotatsu, clenching a fist and aiming it for his enemy's face. Much to his great disappointment, Yukio leaned casually away a second before the impact could occur. A hasty inhalation was audible across the room.

Yukio stood slowly, crossing his arms over his chest. Kyo, further infuriated by the casual actions, attempted landing another punch—and missed. There was a small scraping sound as Sen forcibly removed her fingernails from the wood of the windowsill, pulling away and silently exiting the room.

Kyo blinked twice; staring after her before turning to see the other two inhabitants gazing at him with a look that screamed, "look, now you've done it."

"I didn't do a damn thing!" Kyo retorted in defense.

"Idiot." Yukio muttered.

"Nice move, Kyo." Satoru muttered in sarcasm.

"It's not my damn fault if she…" His voice trailed off, as the look changed to "Aren't you stupid."

"You know perfectly well she hates fighting." Satoru replied.

There was a silence, and Kyo pointed threateningly at Yukio.

"Well, he's as much at fault as I am!" Kyo announced.

"I wasn't the idiot trying to start a fight with someone who can't handle that sort of thing in the room." Yukio pointed out.

Kyo clenched his teeth together. "Well…" he growled. "What do you want me to do?"

The reply was in immediate unison. "Go apologize."

"NEVER!"

"It's your duty as a man, Kyo." Satoru muttered, once again enthralled in the book in his hands rather than the situation.

"I'm not going to apologize, okay? She could have left earlier!" Kyo refused angrily.

"You didn't warn her when you were starting." Satoru pointed out.

"How long are you going to keep this up?" Kyo demanded.

"Until you apologize." Came the unison reply.

-X-

"The beach?" Kaoru asked, looking up from the book that she had been reading to stare at the first-year before her. "Why do you want me to go?"

The library was large; spacious walls covered in bookshelves of equal size, shelves that weren't around the perimeter of the room created a labyrinth in the middle of the room, tall ladders squeaking against the hardwood floor as they were wheeled away by students needing them elsewhere.

"Everyone else that I know well enough to invite is being invited by Kaito-san." Sen admitted, embarrassed.

"Aren't you spending your holidays with the Sohma, though?" Kaoru pressed, marking the page that she was on and setting the book aside.

"Yeah. That's why I wanted you to come." Sen sighed. "Of the people that are being invited to come along, it's either guys, people I hardly know, or people I don't really know at all. It's going to be awkward."

"And it wouldn't be awkward for me?" Kaoru muttered.

Sen sweat dropped. "I was kind of hoping that there would be a girl that I was familiar with there to talk to." She mumbled. "But if you don't want to go, it's okay…"

Kaoru sighed, absentmindedly playing with a lock of her black hair. "Don't say things about my real gender so easily," she sighed. "If anyone heard you I'd be dead." She let go of her hair and looked away. "As for the beach, yeah, sure. I'll go."

"Thank you so much, Senpai!" Sen thanked. She looked around and leaned in. "Why do you pretend to be a guy?" She asked in a whisper.

Kaoru sighed. "It's an inheritance thing. A female leader of the family would make our group look weak."

"Sorry for asking." Sen apologized sheepishly.

"Let's just talk about this at lunch," Kaoru muttered. "It's kind of a pain trying to get conversation in here."

-Lunchtime-

"Are you fine with sitting here, Senpai?" Sen asked, cocking her head to the side at the sophomore.

Kaoru nodded once, crossing her legs swiftly and cupping her face in her left hand. She sat between a white-haired boy and a tough-talking rebel that Sen had introduced as Sohma Kaito and Sohma Kyo, across the table from Sen.

"There are new kids coming today," Kaoru put in nonchalantly.

Kaito poked her ear from where it protruded from her hair, laughing in enjoyment at his annoyance of her when she writhed away, bunching her shoulders in anger. "They're family members!" He announced. "Sohma Ichise and Sohma Jun."

"Really?" Sen asked, confused. "Kyo and the others were talking about Ichise-san a few weeks ago, but I've never heard of Jun-san."

Kaito poked Kaoru again, laughing again as she emitted a grumble of annoyance under her breath. "They're from the inside." He hinted. Sen nodded in understanding. Black rays of evil were coming from where Kyo sat, and Kaito turned to face him, finding his expression deadly.

"Ichise…is…coming…here?" He demanded, tone vicious.

"Yup."

"GAH!" Kyo yelled, standing abruptly and storming across the room to the large wooden cafeteria—that much more resembled a high-class restaurant, apart from the bright lighting—doors.

The doors swung open, Kyo jumping out of their wake quickly as the welcoming committee waltzed inside. The student council president, acting as though he were completely in charge of all in sight, strolled into the room first, arms spread as though giving a grand introduction. The lapdog-like other members followed, praising whatever he said. Finally, two people entered last.

The first was a teenage girl, slightly tall and very thin with an all-legs figure, long black hair extending to her hips and straight bangs a pure white, brushing against the long lashes of her bleak eyes. Her expression was sour, annoyed, and her arms were crossed over her chest.

The second was a boy, looking to be middle school section-worthy. His hair was pure white and fell in choppy layers to about a centimeter past his jaw, bangs hanging loosely in his powder blue eyes.

"They're Seconds." Kaito explained in a low voice to Sen, who cocked her head to the side in confusion.

"What does that mean?" She asked, feeling idiotic.

Kaito looked around before leaning in closer and speaking in a whisper. "You know how there are two of some animals? Well, Jun is the second tiger and Ichise is the second rabbit."

"Oh." Sen muttered.

"Shit!" Kaoru gasped. Kaito and Sen turned toward her.

She was staring at a table in which two third-years had presumably got into a fight (the cause unknown) as they were currently arguing loudly, threats becoming often in their rather slurred and rough tones, fists clenched and expressions furious. The people sitting directly next to them made to get away, yet it appeared to be too late. The man on the left started it, the man on the right receiving an unexpected punch to the jaw. He glared scathingly, standing up and grabbing the other man's collar.

"Fight." Sen muttered. "Fun…"

"That's class D!" Kaoru announced, horrified. "They're yakuza (**1**) kids!"

Sen stood quickly, drawing away as though she and Kaoru were involved in the fight rather than staring from a distance. "Are you serious?" She demanded. "They're going to kill each other and everyone around them!"

"Yeah!" Kaoru exclaimed, eyes wide and a smart-assed smirk on her face that bore without saying: 'Yeah, do you get it NOW?'

"This looks entertaining." Kaito muttered.

Sen stared at him in disbelief before following his line of sight to the fight. A girl admiring the student council president was roughly pushed aside by another member of class D that had worked his way into the fight. She squealed loudly as she collided with the younger white-haired Sohma, who hastily attempted to jump back in fear of being exposed. His reaction took place a few seconds too late, and she landed atop him, eyes shut tightly from the fall and thankfully not seeing the eruption of pure white smoke that was emitted shortly after.

"Heh." Kaito muttered, smirking. He stood slowly, stretching his arms and cracking his knuckles before heading over to where Jun (now a white tiger cub) was being "hidden" by a particularly flustered and pissed off Ichise. As he approached, Ichise reached out and clutched his shirt, angry.

"Take Jun and get the hell out of here before the rest of us get changed in this brawl!" She ordered.

"What was that?" A gossiping girl asked to her friend.

"I don't know! One minute that Sohma was there and then there was smoke and then he's just gone!"

"EW! Are those his clothes?"

"See what I mean?" Ichise hissed shortly.

Kaito nodded once and made to pick up the bundle of clothes concealing Jun.

At that moment, a class D member, having dispatched from the fight in order to get more people involved, had wound up stationed near Kaito, and confusing him as someone to be crossed with, landed a swift uppercut on the white-haired teenager.

Exactly three seconds passed.

In those three seconds, Kyo and Ichise stared at the lanky teenager as he slowly lifted his head, a small amused smirk creeping across his lips, bangs covering his shadowed eyes. When his eyes became visible, they bore a dark gray, malicious color rather than the odd, redlined white color they used to be.

"He's gone Black." Ichise and Kyo muttered in accidental unison.

Kaito clutched the class D member by his hair, smiling sadistically down at him as his knees gave out and he nearly sank to the floor.

"What was that supposed to be?" Kaito demanded in a quiet, yet furious voice.

"Don't get involved, you idiot!" Kyo exclaimed exasperatedly.

Kaito stared at Kyo in shock and dropped the class D member, who scampered away to re-join the original fight.

"You really think you can tell me what to do?" He demanded angrily.

"You want to settle this with a fight?" Kyo asked, smirking as though he already knew he would win.

"Hell yeah!" Kaito yelled. "Don't get a swelled head and think you're going to win, because you still can't beat Yukio! You're as worthless as the cat before you!"

"You're both idiots!" Ichise cried, furious. "Now one of you come and get Jun out of here before he changes back!"

" Why don't you do it?" Kyo and Kaito demanded in unison.

"Because I'm keeping people from seeing, that's why!" She argued. "Now one of you hurry up and GO!"

"What's this, my dears?"

The three turned slowly to see the tall, blonde student council president in all of his presidential glory standing directly behind them, wearing his trademark "lady killer" grin and with his head tilted slightly to the side. His hands were placed on his hips, eyeing them over.

"Does there happen to be a problem?" He asked.

"Shut up!" Ichise ordered. "We don't need your help, now go break up the fight!"

"Ah, but Sohma-hime, my face will get torn to shreds!" He whined childishly, paying no attention to the now-sparring Kaito and Kyo.

"I DON'T CARE!" Ichise shouted.

Across the lunchroom, Sen stood calmly. "I think I'm going to eat in the library." She announced.

-X-

"We're leaving, okay?" Roku announced to the two girls sitting in a darkened room, the only light being the exaggerated luminescence of the computer screen before them. Sono and Kotone sat, faces close to the screen, eyes wide and a stance suggesting that the slightest blink would make them miss a most important detail of the anime show they were watching.

("It's yaoi." They had explained in a rather uncanny unison. "You have to accept it. It happens. People like yaoi in this world.")

"You're apparently supposed to clean the house while we're out, too." Roku added. Kotone and Sono nodded once.

"Fine." Roku muttered, turning to the door. "We'll be at the beach if you need us."

The summer home had proved to be right on the beach, a large deck on the second floor overlooking the ocean, tumbling waves crashing constantly against the white-sanded beach. Daisuke and Kotone, who'd gotten over-enthusiastic with the invitations, had invited the entire zodiac. However, Ami, Chion, Satoru, and a few others had neglected the offer, considering that they were busy.

The door shut quietly.

"Should we actually do any cleaning?" Sono asked, daring to look away from the screen.

Kotone raised her eyebrows in an "aren't you stupid" smirk. "No. I'm going to get the other laptop."

-Later that day-

"It looks like Sono-san and Kotone-kun haven't done any cleaning at all."

"Should we watch next time to make sure they do it?"

"I say we force them to do it right now!"

The door flew open with a loud bang to reveal a darkened room, the only light coming from the computer screen, the same as when they'd left. Sono sat in the corner with a laptop, staring blankly at the screen. She made no indication that they had entered, and instead grabbed a fistful of her hair in anguish.

"Sono-san?" Sen asked, confused. "Did something…happen?"

Sono didn't look up. "Shi." She muttered.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Kyo demanded, annoyed. "Shi is still at the beach with the people who wanted pictures."

"I guess we shouldn't have left her." Roku added with a shrug.

"Shi."

"Shi what?"

Sono turned rapidly, banging her fist on the floor. "SHI EPISODO!" (Four episodes) "There are only FOUR EPISODES of this yaoi show!"

There was a moment of silence in which everyone sweat dropped heavily but Sono. She turned back to the screen in annoyance, typing quickly and clicking on another link, then leaning into the screen until her face was nearly an inch away.

"What are you watching?" Sen asked, leaning over her.

On the screen a large, poorly drawn, and rather angular man was leaning over a smaller boy with honey blonde hair and large blue eyes, cupping his face in his large hand. A mirror was in front of them, reflecting the image as fear crossed the smaller male's face. The larger smirked darkly.

"Look at the face you make while you're being taken by me," he ordered.

"What are you watching?" Sen demanded, backing away in a disturbed manner.

"Yaoi." Sono responded seriously, holding up three fingers. "Episode three of Okane Ga Nai."

"I thought you had to be eighteen to watch that kind of thing." Roku pointed out.

"What they don't know won't hurt them." Sono muttered as squeals and short, labored moans came from the laptop.

There was a silence.

"What's Kotone-kun doing?" Roku asked.

"Watching yaoi. Duh."

"Are you both underage porn junkies?" Kyo demanded loudly, pointing a finger at the unabashed Sono.

"It's not porn. It's art." Sono muttered, eyes not leaving the screen as she typed quickly yet again, clicking harshly on another link.

Now, a man with one blue eye and one yellow was propped up on his knees, indigo hair swaying slightly as he moved to tighten his grip on the hands of the pink-haired boy beneath him on the headboard. The blueberry grabbed the strawberry's face, leaning in slightly with a smirk.

"You're making a hesitant face," he murmured. "You like me, don't you?"

"TURN THAT OFF!" Kyo raged.

Sono banged her fist on the floor, turning angrily to face Kyo. "Shut up, you damn cat! Since when do you have any authority over what I watch? You're not the one having your mind lovingly invaded by the wonderful world of yaoi, you jealous bitch! Why don't you go watch some girls doing it or something, okay?"

There was a short silence.

"I AM REALLY GOING TO KILL YOU!" Kyo shouted, springing forward. "DO YOU KNOW THAT?"

"I'LL KILL YOU BEFORE YOU CAN EVEN THINK ABOUT KILLING ME!" Sono shouted back. "No, strike that! I'll kill you before you can even think about thinking about THINKING ABOUT imagining or even getting the IDEA TO kill me!"

"OH YEAH?" Kyo demanded. "WELL I—!"

"It's the power of persistent love!" Kotone gushed from the doorway in interruption.

"I'M GONNA STAB YOU!" Kyo and Sono shouted at her in unison.

-X-

It came by over time. I couldn't really help it, and I couldn't ignore it. But it wasn't really a bad thing. It was just…strange.

"Kaoru-chan!" Daisuke called. "You're here awfully late!"

Kaoru froze for a second before scuttling away from Daisuke, who'd become a cling-on since she first met him.

It was around midnight, and she found herself sitting on the beach, fingers having worked themselves into the soft sand as she'd been spacing out, subconsciously memorizing the rough yet smooth texture. She sighed and stood up, rolling up her pant legs to her knees and wading into the nearby water, feeling the push-pull motion of the waves against her skin.

"Yeah," she muttered. "What does it matter to you?"

He shrugged, tilting his head to the side slightly and staring off into the ocean. "Nothing much. I didn't know you were here, anyway."

Kaoru shrugged as well, digging around on the sandy bottom for a smooth enough rock. Finding one, she salvaged it and brought it up, skipping it across the waves. She continued for a while before stopping and turning around, crossing her arms.

"What is it with you and Yukio…kun?" She asked, adding the honorific grudgingly as she remembered just in time the conversation earlier in which he'd told her that he didn't mind if she called him by his name. "Are you lovers or something?"

Daisuke smiled in a way that made her feel guilty for even wondering.

"Uh…sorry…" She muttered, looking away.

"No, it doesn't really matter if you ask." He replied, looking away. "It's not like there's anything between us. Just my childish way of living is all." He sighed and shrugged.

Kaoru turned back around, pausing in the act of skipping another rock, her hand left hanging in the air for a second before she threw it with a small, irritated grunt. She stared off after it, listening to the waves and the light wind before she paused and sighed.

"If it's bothering you, you can tell me." She muttered. "I'll listen."

He smirked. "It's just something really pathetic…"

-Past-

"That's the rat?" Daisuke, around eleven years old, asked a quietly glaring Kyo who sat next to him.

It was New Years, and the zodiac was gathered in the usual room, mats for sitting thrown out at random places. God, Akira, was sitting next to a small, frail boy whose head was lowered, hands in lightly clenched fists on his knees. His hair was a silky silver color, bangs hanging in his silvery blue-green eyes.

"Yeah." Kyo hissed. "He's always with Akira. He's no good."

"Can you really say that without knowing much about him?" Daisuke asked, confused.

"The rat is born to be hated." Kyo concluded.

-x-

_I was in the wrong place at the wrong time._

"Do you think I should let you have your independence instead of living a safe life like the one you already have?" Came the furious voice of Akira through a door in the hallway of the main house.

Maids passing through simply looked away as though there was nothing that could be done about it, whatever it was. Daisuke turned to face the door, curious and confused. A loud crash came from inside the room and he flinched as the screaming continued, followed by more crashes.

"If I let you go, you would be just as bad as the rat before you!" Akira shrieked. "Do you want to be that way? You always make it my fault! I'm not doing anything wrong!"

Daisuke took a step back in surprise. What was going on? If that was the rat, wasn't he supposed to be glad that he was possibly getting hurt? Why was he slightly…bothered…by it?

"Gomenasai!" a different voice apologized.

That must have been the rat. Daisuke thought.

"—The same as me!" Akira cried. "We were the same! But you're changing that and making me look like the one at fault! It's not my fault!"

_Some days I really hate myself for not opening the door and stopping him, then._

Daisuke glanced over at the door as it slid open slowly, letting out the louder noise from within the main house. It was New Years, and he'd chosen, this time, to escape from the noise and bothersome family members and stay outside, instead, watching the snow fall and gather on the eaves.

"What are you doing out here?"

Daisuke turned again, expecting that it had been a person placing something outside or checking on the weather rather than someone coming to stay outside, as well. He realized with slight dread and withdrawal that it was the rat.

"Why are you out here?" Daisuke asked, reversing the question.

"I don't usually like New Years much, since I don't know many people…" The rat muttered, looking away. "I'm usually just with Akira-san, but sometimes the rooster comes to visit me…" He looked up, suddenly. "Ah! But her friend, Kotone-kun, she knows you, right? Aren't you the ram?"

Daisuke nodded once, not looking at the silver-haired boy stubbornly.

_This is the rat. The sneaky, clever, ill-intentioned rat, destined on making us all miserable with its forced leadership and selfishness, is he._ He reminded himself. Yet at the same time, it wasn't. It was just a boy…possessed by the rat. Even though the rat had tricked the cat, it wasn't specifically this boy that tricked Kyo, who was possessed by the cat.

Yet, he would be too lenient if he thought that way, instead.

He glanced over at the rat.

It wouldn't matter if he thought like that.

-x-

The musical notes of the piano, echoed slightly due to the otherwise emptiness of the white-painted room, flowed through the piano as the woman sitting at it swiftly played, hands locating the right keys to play and eyes gazing down in slight boredom as though she had nowhere better to look.

Suddenly the piano stopped altogether and the brunette woman turned on the bench to face the other person in the room, making Daisuke's presence known.

"I hear from the main house that you've been around the child possessed by the rat," she murmured. "Why?"

"I…"

"Is it pity?" His mother asked harshly, standing up. "Do you pity him? Why? There's nothing pitiful about him! Loved by everyone, always being looked up to—that's the way you should be! We instead have to work for everything, unlike his family who gets everything they'll ever need just because their son is the rat."

"It's not like that!" Daisuke interrupted.

His mother calmed down slightly and glared at him expectantly. "How so?"

"Yukio-kun," he mentally smirked darkly at the nerve to use his name in front of her, "is actually really hated…it's sad, because everybody assumes things like that. Akira keeps him locked up in a room that was really for the previous rat, and I can't even help him at all!"

"That's because you're worthless." His mother hissed. "Just the worthless, worthless ram. You're an unimportant member of the zodiac. I'm ashamed to have even given birth to you!"

(Sono, who was hiding under the piano—not really—, burst out into a fit of hysterical laughter at what that sentence could have been changed to say.)

There was a short silence, and his mother clenched a fist tightly. "Why don't you get it? Is this your way of consoling yourself—trying to get close to someone who has it worse than you as though you helping them will make you a better person?" She accused. "Give up! There's no one in this world that will ever love someone like you. You have no good qualities, no merit, there's nothing about you that's remotely likeable." She paused. "Absolutely nothing."

_I believed her—why wouldn't I?_

_And soon, I began to "realize" that what she had said "was" true. Yet even knowing that, it seemed like I couldn't stop myself from continuing to use him._

_As time went on, I tried to force myself to love him as though that would prove her wrong. It was like my silent act of rebelling_ _against her words._

_I had always been good at giving up, but it was strange feeling that kind of sudden perseverance taking over me as though this was something I had to accomplish. I had thought that I was stupid because it took so long for me to realize that her words were "true", but it took me even longer before I came to the conclusion that after years of feigning falling for him, it had become the true way I felt._

_And I was horrified._

_Exile?_

_What came from being like me in a family like the Sohma?_

_I didn't want to find out._

_I never told him; just let him find out on his own._

-Present-

"Eh? Daisuke-san, where are you going?" Kaoru called, turning in confusion as the thin teenager ran toward the summer home.

"Somewhere!" Daisuke called back wittily.

-X-

Yukio looked up from the book he was reading as his door flew open, revealing a panting Daisuke who gripped the doorframe weakly.

"I feel sooooo dizzy, now!" He whined to himself.

"What do you need, Daisuke?" Yukio asked, setting his book down with a slight sigh. "You surprised me—I didn't know you were here."

"HONTO NI?" Daisuke asked excitedly.

"Yeah," Yukio blinked. "So what is it?"

Daisuke froze in place for a second. "Oh…um…" he looked away, biting his tongue nervously.

_I can't tell him._ He thought, and let a sad smile cross his face. _There's no way I know how to word this._

"It's nothing." He finally concluded and left the room, shutting the door quietly behind him.

_I'm too afraid of rejection, of being hated by him to tell him the real reason behind my selfish "love."_

He didn't look back as he ran down the hallway.

_I need to give you up._

_Find someone…quickly._

_Break me out of this reverie before I have to do it myself._

Kotone crossed her arms over her chest stubbornly, glaring down the hallway he had left as she stepped aside swiftly, letting him pass.

_Because I don't know how to do that without causing more problems._

* * *

A/N: I thought that the ending was cute.

SQUEE?

No?

Fine.

Don't worry, un-yaoi readers. It's not a pairing and "KOTONE" knows why…And by the way, Venom, I totally stepped on that pinecone in pantyhose that you were beating me with.

It kind of hurt and then I thought I could use it as a reason for procrastination, but then I thought that it wouldn't make for a very good excuse.

By the way, I got a bit of humor out of calling Ran a strawberry and Yoru a blueberry. IT COULD BE WORSE, OKAY? I could have described the end of EPISODE SIX.

The shows that 'SONO' is watching are Okane Ga Nai and Sukisho/Sukisyo.

Sukisho is pretty much impossible to find unless you go to myvideo DOT de.

THIS TIME I'M NOT GONNA FORGET!

Yakuza like the Mafia. Only Japanese.

I apologize once again for the wait and now for the utter suck-age of this chapter.

Sorry, it couldn't be helped.


	12. Chapter 11

A/N: THANK YOU FOR YOUR FORGIVENESS, KIKI! You always expect when I least expect it (not a bad thing, by the way) and then I'm all "WHOA. Was that a BOMB or are there now seventeen reviews?"

I got sidetracked writing this chapter, because I kept writing chapter seventeen, instead.

-Insert I-just-want-to-write-this-chapter excitement here-

I think I just used the word "write"—and its variants—too many times.

Oh well.

Venom is going to kill me for making Sora cry in this one. If chapter twelve never comes into existence, it's because of Venom's love of Sora, even though she claimed Daisuke.

It has come to my attention that I've never described what Akira looks like. And, well, that's because he hasn't been properly "brought in" yet. That comes up sometime in the near future…

I knew I shouldn't have written about Naomi. Now I want her to still be alive, even though she's the character I hate most and want to kill off until my keyboard breaks. Why? Because it would be interesting, that's why.

…Why did I kill her off…?

* * *

_What is this feeling?_

A large covering of low-hanging, leafy branches from a close-by tree was roughly pushed aside by a small, deadly pale hand as its owner stumbled through the limbs, grasping one tightly and breathing heavily, other hand coming up to wipe a streak of blood from the lips. Inside the cave from which the person had occurred, the last dying embers of the fire suddenly extinguished.

-X-

"Akira-sama!" A Sohma maid cried, throwing open the door to the room.

Akira looked up expectantly and moodily from the table he sat at, legs tucked beneath him and white, plain kimono slightly loose. In one hand he had a fistful of his hair, the other lying on the table palm-up.

"What is it?" He asked. "It's hot and I'm sick."

"Yes, we apologize for the intrusion!" Another maid added. "But there's a problem!"

"What might that be?"

"She's been found." The same maid announced.

Akira flew into a standing position, eyes wide. He strode toward the maids quickly with an angry flare. Gripping the side of the door tightly in anger. "Where is she?" He demanded. "Bring her to me!"

The first maid nodded quickly. "Of course. She's being examined, now, but I can fetch her."

"We will bring her right away, Akira-sama!" They set off down the hallway quickly.

Akira didn't bother staring after them, and he instead leaned against the doorframe in exasperation, slowly sinking into a sitting position and resting his hands on his knees. After some time, the maids returned, a small girl now standing between them.

She was small in bone structure, yet her eyes were large and bright, crystalline white in color, red tinged around the outer boundaries of the iris. Her hair was pitch black and fell in a tangled, slightly wavy due to the knots, mess to her knees as a result of having never been cut in her life.

Through her eyes, the scene before her was split into one hundred kaleidoscopic sections, yet she directed her gaze upward and zoomed in on Akira's face, and the other ninety-nine disappeared, leaving her with the typical aspect of human sight.

"We've been waiting," Akira greeted coldly. "Hyakume, the true god of the outsiders."

(A/N: Hyakume means 'hundred eyes'. Because she has the split-sight into one hundred selections, like a fly, the name represents her. Get it?)

"The Outsiders," she spoke up. Her voice was strange, high and low with different torrents of pitch thrown in, and a slight echo as though speaking from inside an empty metal room. "Bring them here. …Want to speak to them."

-X-

(A/N: "…want to speak to them." The only reason I didn't put in "I" there is because Hyakume has such a strange way of speaking that It's going to take some thorough explanation before I start using I and you when she speaks to people. I wish that I could just type out all of her speaking lines in Japanese, so it would make more sense than what it translates into, but that would be problematic for the readers that don't know that much of the language, so…)

"How long is this going to take?" Etsu groaned, leaning her head on Sora's shoulder. "I don't even get what they're talking about."

They sat in a room of the main house, the floor a pale wood, and one wall entirely glass windows. The room was practically empty of furniture except for the black, thin cushions for sitting on that had been lain out by what appeared to be a perfectionist. The sky beyond the glass wall was darkened with deep gray clouds, though the rain never fell and the air merely remained humid.

Ichigo had chosen to hide in a corner of the room, one knee to his chest and the other stretched out, head leaning on his knee as he stared blankly through the glass wall, a strong feeling of dread consuming him that had first become present since he'd been told to come to the main house, a feeling that had grown stronger when he'd found that Kazashi was the only one not present.

The shoji door slid open and the three looked up. Standing in its wake was a girl, appearing to be around fifteen years of age. She was bony and thin, and her white eyes seemed to be staring at them all at the same time, even though Ichigo was sitting further away. Her jet black hair was messy and tangled, some knotted locks falling over her narrow shoulders. She wore a plain, floor length black dress. The eyes focused, still managing to take in all of them, and she slid the door shut behind her, striding to the center of the room and sitting down on a mat.

"The cat?" She asked.

"His curse was broken." Etsu muttered, attempting to hide the fact that the voice and presence gave her chills.

The girl nodded. "Anatta wa Hyakume." She murmured.

Etsu frowned in confusion, glancing up at Sora to authenticate that she wasn't the only one confused by the statement. "_I_ am Etsu." She protested. The girl who had called her by the strange name cocked her head slightly to the side in returned confusion.

"That's how she talks." Another voice came as the Shoji slid open. Ichigo jumped slightly as Kazashi stepped inside, closing the door silently behind her. "She uses _I _instead of _you_, and uses _you_ instead of _I_."

(A/N: Right. Anatta, meaning you, is what she calls herself. Boku, meaning the male form of I, is what she calls other people. Do you get why it's hard to translate, now? Heh. Her way of speaking doesn't make very much sense, and I like it that way. SO, whenever it says 'I', just know that she's really saying 'you', but not meaning it that way.)

"I have watched you since I was informed of your existence," Hyakume told them. "Yes, it seems…" her voice trailed off.

"It seems…?" Etsu repeated, leading her to finish.

Hyakume turned around, setting her large eyes on Ichigo, who stared back in surprise. She turned back around swiftly.

"It seems that Ichigo-kun hasn't gotten any taller."

There was a short silence.

"SHUT UP! MAYBE I HAVE A DISEASE OR SOMETHING, OKAY?" Ichigo shouted angrily, standing up to an unimpressive five-foot-three that was all but threatening.

"Show respect, Ichigo." Etsu muttered.

(Another A/N: this chapter is crawling with interruptions, isn't it? Ichigo is short. That was intentional. He also has a girly face, but I don't really need to give that much of an in-depth explanation…)

"Have you found that strange things have been happening since the last generation?" Hyakume asked. "Etsu-kun, your fall from the building—you survived it, didn't you? Yet if a male were to embrace you, you would not transform, would you?"

"Yeah," Etsu was the one who stared back in surprise, now. "My curse was broken last generation, and I really intended to die…but it didn't work."

Kazashi and Ichigo looked away in slight guilt, both remembering the conversation that had taken place not long before the suicide attempt.

"If that interference had not taken place, you would have truly died," Hyakume stated. "Due to the arrival of the next generation, and the next wolf being brought back to this world from a previous one, a looping eternity, you would have died because of that, and the appearance of Koyuu and myself, who are truly ruling factors in this generation of the curse."

Ichigo turned to Kazashi. "This is how you knew."

Kazashi didn't say anything, not looking at him as though he'd never spoken. Ichigo scowled slightly and sunk back into the corner, slightly annoyed with himself that he'd never realized it, not even after she'd told him about the true gods.

"What I called you here to say," Hyakume hesitated slightly, looking around at them. "Is that the end is near."

-X-

"_Since you're the rat and you're closest to me, you have to be just like me. They didn't do it that way last time and the rat became disobedient." Akira informed him with a small grin on his juvenile face. Yukio glanced over at him from his sitting position beside him on the floor and cocked his head to the side._

"_But isn't that kind of…weird?"_

_Akira's eyes narrowed in frustration. "Listen to me, nezumi. If I have to be this way then you do, too!"_

"_But I don't want to lie to everyone!" Yukio argued._

_Akira gritted his teeth, speaking in a hiss. "What they don't know won't hurt them."_

_This is a difficult kind of world. _

_Nothing is ever the way it seems, and first impressions are never correct. In this difficult kind of denial, it can't be helped that humans are still going to make first impressions and they're still going to believe them._

_This difficult kind of world…I don't like it. _

_People in this ugly world try and search for each other as though it will bring meaning into their existence._

_But in the end, we only turn out dead with no means of coming back._

_What does a person think in death?_

_Do they feel regret for not being able to do all that they'd planned?_

_This may only be my stubborn way of thinking…_

…_But I'm not the kind of person who likes change._

-X-

"You two aren't going swimming?" Roku asked.

"No." Kotone answered shortly, roughly smacking a bottle of very high SPF sun block. "I'm not going to get tan, okay?"

Roku sighed. "You guys aren't even wearing bathing suits—okay, you are," she quickly rephrased as Sono started to object. "But with the clothes over it, if you get wet your clothes are going to smell like salt for weeks."

"That's pretty kinky," Kotone commented.

"That's not really the reason, is it, Sono-san?" Kaito asked.

Sono looked up at him in annoyance. "I don't do tanning, okay? How is it that I'm the one supposedly lying about it even though I didn't say anything?"

"Well," Kaito started, practically speaking to all that could hear. "The reason is—Sono-san has big boobs and she doesn't want to show them off."

There was a short silence.

"OH MY GOD!" Sono shouted. "WHY DO YOU PEOPLE ALWAYS LOOK?"

"He speaks the truth!" Kotone approved, snickering.

"Why are you two even bothering to use all of the sun block in Japan, anyway?" Roku asked, placing her hands on her hips. "It's cloudy today."

"You can still get tan even if it's cloudy," Kotone replied, having picked up the bottle again now that it was mentioned. "It's been _proven_."

"Oh burn!" Sono whispered.

"It looks like it's about to rain," Kaito commented wistfully.

"Not really," Sono scoffed. "It's just been humid and any minute now my hair is going to frizz out and get huge and wavy."

"That would look awesome!" Kotone laughed.

"IT WOULD LOOK LIKE HOMO!" Sono argued.

"Homo milk?" Kotone added.

"No. Worse."

"Damn!" Kotone muttered, falsely taken aback.

Dark eyes watched the scene from the shadows of a tree overhead, and the person they belonged to crossed his arms, tilting the head slightly to the side. He squinted into the light, glaring slightly. He cursed under his breath and turned away swiftly, running the rest of the way down the path.

"I'm going back. I was just rained upon and if this hair color comes out, someone will lose a limb and I will not be merciful about it," Sono announced, standing up and turning in the direction of the house. Her once half dark brown, half bleach-y blonde hair was now red, the roots a lighter, pinker color from where the dye hadn't taken so well.

"Does anyone know Sono-san's natural color?" Kaito muttered.

"It's BLONDE!" Kotone announced.

"SHUT THE HELL UP!" Sono shouted from further down the path. "DON'T TELL THEM CLASSIFIED INFORMATION!"

Kotone snickered and grabbed her hoodie, also leaving for the house rather than stay at the beach.

"You left pretty fast," Kotone tapped Sono on the shoulder as she caught up with her. "See someone?"

Sono turned her head in Kotone's direction. "Yep."

"Who was it?"

"Shut up for a second." Sono whispered.

There was a silence, and Sono tilted her head slightly to the side, taking a nearly silent step forward. A small gust of wind passed through, rustling the branches of the trees, dirt of the path being picked up and tossed around by the air.

"Jun!" Sono called into the nearby bushes. "If you don't come out right now, I am going to strangle myself with the sleeves of Kotone's jacket!"

There was a short pause and the bushes shook as someone emerged from them. He was around twelve years old with a shock of pure white hair, bangs hanging in his powder blue eyes. He had his arms crossed over his chest, an expression of annoyance set stubbornly on his features.

"The only reason I came out," he explained, "was because I know you well enough to know you'd really do it."

"Baka!" Sono jokingly smacked the back of his head, ignoring his grunt of greater annoyance at the gesture. "I'm not in the mood for suicide right now, and I wouldn't really kill myself over _you_."

"Like I'd want you to!"

Sono rolled her eyes. "Anyway, why are you here? I thought you said you weren't coming?"

"Because…" Jun started, voice trailing off as he failed to find an excuse.

Sono smirked triumphantly. "Stalker!"

"I'm not a stalker." Jun hissed.

"JUN!" Kotone shouted. "Judy's mom just called and told me what you did, and you are too a stalker—get in your room!" (1)

"Would you shut up for ONE MINUTE?" Jun demanded.

"No," came the unison reply.

Jun sighed in exasperation. "I should have known you'd say that."

"What did you need?" Sono asked, placing her hands on her hips. "Obviously you had a reason for coming."

"I needed to get away from the main house." Jun explained simply. "They're all in panic because the 'heir of the outsider' was found or something."

The two stared in shock at him for a moment before Sono abruptly turned away, hurriedly striding down the path in a pace that quickly turned to a sprint.

"Sono!" Kotone called. "Where the hell are you going?"

"I'm going back to the house, where else?" Sono called back, turning to run backwards in order to face them. "I need to use the phone."

-X-

_Why did I even come here? _Ichigo thought, crossing his arms over his chest and glaring pointedly at the door of the dojo. _I don't think I even have any business. _He strode forward in annoyance though with a flair to his movements that showed that he was determined to force himself to do something. _Fine. I'll just talk to Tohru or something. It seems to be what everyone else did when something wasn't right._

"Pardon the intrusion," he muttered, more in a habitual sort of way as he slid the door open easily, stepping out of his shoes as he entered the entry room.

He was slightly surprised to find that the front room was empty, but he remembered with a grim smile that the people who used to frequently be there, Kazuma and Kunimitsu, most likely had moved away or died. He shook his head, pushing the thought out of his mind.

A sudden, sharp pain erupted breathtakingly in his chest, making him gasp and trip from the surprise, falling against the wall with a crashing sound. The pain never ceased, and he coughed, trying to regain his breath since it had been knocked out of him as he fell. Weakly, he slid down into a sitting position, drawing his knees up to tightly press against his chest. The pain was only intensifying, and as a last resort he wrapped his arms around himself as tightly as possible. The tightness eased it somewhat, though not greatly, and he pressed his forehead against his knees, trying to wait it out until it ended.

He felt moisture on his cheeks and, horrified, raised a hand to his face. He closed his eyes, covering his face with his hands and curling on himself even more. He wasn't allowed to cry—he would get beaten again. If he cried…

…He would end up killing someone.

"_Why are you crying?" _

The voice of Naomi echoed in his head and he clenched his teeth tightly, fingernails digging into the skin of his face.

"_You're scared, aren't you?" _

The voice was strangely parental, for her. He remembered it being that way just before she would get angry.

"_I'm scared, too." _

A kind smile would split through her manic features.

"_I'm scared because of you."_

Something broke, then.

"_I'm scared because you exist! Because you were born, because you burden me with the pain of your existence! Why do you make things painful for Saiki-kun and I? Why do you always cry? Don't be so damn weak!"_

The door slid open and Ichigo moved his hands to stare, terrified, at the people standing in its wake. He faintly recognized Tohru and Kyo, yet his head throbbed and vision flickered, and then standing there were two other people.

One of them was a woman, brown eyes bleak and malicious yet her smile remained intact on her pale face, waist-length hair a shade of brown that was nearly black. The second was a man, tall and with simple brunette hair.

The woman's eyes widened and she gazed at him, the smile slipping from her face.

Ichigo couldn't help it.

He screamed, ragged sobs racking through his body. "I'M NOT WEAK!" he denied in a cracked shout. "I'M NOT WEAK, I'M NOT WEAK!"

"Ichigo-san!" Tohru cried in surprise, rushing forward. Kyo stared after her in surprise, reaching to put his walking stick in the umbrella holder where he typically left it.

Yet through his eyes the woman drew closer, and her eyes only grew darker with anger. Tohru's hand coming closer as though to try and help him was Naomi's hand, and the walking stick in Kyo's hand was the bamboo rod that his father often used…

"Don't touch me!" Ichigo gasped, tearing away from Tohru. "Don't come any closer! I don't want to kill you!"

"_Don't touch me." Ichigo ordered. "Because now that you know that…" his tone grew dark and serious. "…I could show you horrible, horrible things on accident."_

Tohru quickly ignored the memory and instead wrapped her arms around him to try and comfort him, not caring if he transformed. He clutched at the back of her shirt, clenching his teeth harder as though it would stop the tears.

"Ichigo-san," Tohru gasped. "You're…not transforming!"

_Yeah. I know._

-X-

"Did you hear what I said?"

Naomi's eyes widened and she smiled in an embarrassed manner, awkwardly rubbing her fingertips against each other, fidgeting slightly. Her deep brown, almost black hair blew slightly in the wind, being pushed into her face in a rather annoying manner. "Yes," she finally replied. "I heard you…I'm just kind of…deciding how to react."

The boy, Tetsuya, sighed, running a hand through his black hair in slight exasperation. He was Machida Tetsuya, a nameless upperclassman, a slightly clueless heartthrob, though his small amount of dreaminess was easily passed off as a cool air, and his typical act of ignoring the girls that swooned over him was equally labeled as so.

"It must be nothing but trouble for you to get asked by someone like me," Tetsuya muttered. "So I guess I'll just leave…"

Naomi turned to grab the back of his uniform blazer. "Um…no, I'm just…" she paused. "I've secretly kind of…liked you…for a while, now…"

He reached back to take her hand off of his blazer and cover it with his own, squeezing slightly. "Thanks," he grinned. "That makes me really happy, Naomi-chan."

She blushed, eyes widening. "What did you call me?"

He looked away awkwardly. "Naomi-chan. Can I call you that?"

"Um…yes…it was just kind of sudden…"

"Sorry."

-X-

"Naomi-chan!" Tetsuya called.

Naomi turned from her pacing to see her tall senpai waving to her from a group of rather unruly boys surrounding him like a flock. A grin split her features and she raced toward him, waving as well.

"These are my friends," Tetsuya explained. "They were pretty eager to meet you."

She flushed slightly under their penetrating, perverse stares, some of them smirking rather sadistically down at her. She wrapped her arms around herself as though to cover her unexposed body, attempting to pretend that they weren't present.

"So am I still coming over on Sunday?" Tetsuya asked in confirmation.

"Yeah," Naomi replied, uneasy under the amount of ill intentioned gazes set upon her.

"Okay," Tetsuya laughed in an embarrassed manner. "I'm kind of nervous, I guess…I've never met your parents before. It's at eight, right?"

"Yeah. Eight."

-X-

"Naomi?" Her mother called downstairs. "Didn't you say that this Tetsuya-kun person was coming over at eight?"

Naomi looked up from the table that she was setting in a rush. "Eh? What time is it?"

Her mother sighed bleakly. "It's around eight-thirty. And you're sure he was supposed to come today?"

Naomi wound her hair around a finger, frowning slightly. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure it was supposed to be today." She reached around her back to untie the plain white apron that she wore. "I guess I'll just go to his house to see if he's ready yet. He's not usually late for things…"

Her mother took a few steps downstairs to lean on the railing, gazing at her daughter in slight disdain from the opening on the stairs. "How about you wait until nine? He might just be busy doing something important."

Naomi shrugged unsurely. "Okay."

Nine thirty was announced with the ringing out of the clock placed in the living room. Naomi's face was cupped in her hand as she found herself sitting solitary in a chair at the kitchen table, staring with disinterest at a dwindling white candle. She stood, pushing her chair in and taking her hair down from the loose ponytail in which it had been tied.

"I'm going to go to his house," she announced, stepping into her shoes. "I'll be back soon, and there's streetlamps. He doesn't live that far away."

"Iterasshai." Her mother recited.

The air outside was cold with the essence of pre-winter frost, and Naomi clutched her jacket tighter as she paced quickly down the street, walking fast incase anyone shady happened to be outside at the particular time. The sky was stained a deep purple-tinted blue, stars strewn across it. She stared up at the sky, frowning in incomprehension.

'I don't really get it,' she thought, crossing her arms over her chest. 'Tetsuya-kun isn't usually late…'

"Hey!" Someone called out from underneath a nearby streetlamp.

Naomi turned to face them, becoming nervous as she recognized the group of Tetsuya's friends that she had met a few days before. They all held a rather drunken sway to their actions and slur to their words. A familiar, newly lazy-eyed face stuck out in the crowd, and Naomi's eyes widened. Tetsuya had called to her, and was waving tipsily.

"Tetsuya-kun?" She asked, confused.

"Hey, baby!" Tetsuya slurred drunkenly. "Come walk with us for a minute!"

"Tetsuya-kun, you've been drinking," she denied slightly.

"Only a few, come on, baby." He assured her, holding his hands out.

She unsurely walked forward, bunching her shoulders slightly. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders, drawing her uncomfortably close as his friends hooted loudly in approval. She let herself be lead into an alleyway between two houses, nearly tripping over the stairs that lead down into it.

"Tetsuya-kun, what are you—?" Naomi started, being cut off as his hand closed over her mouth.

"Shut up," he growled. "Or we'll kill you."

-X-

Naomi stared up at the night sky hopelessly, not making an effort to cover her body, numb with cold and feeling positively dead. She lay on her back against the cold, uneven stone of the alleyway, listening passively to their drunken laughter and shouts of obscenities as the group walked away.

Naomi realized with a slight sigh that turned into a cough in her raw throat that one of them had stayed behind, a tall man with brown hair and a slightly plain face. She realized with a certain painfully hopeful feeling that he was the only one who hadn't assaulted her, and she spoke in a hoarse voice through quivering lips.

"Who are you," she asked, "and what do you want?"

"I'm Sohma Saiki," he introduced in a clear, sober voice. "I just wanted to see if you were okay."

She laughed dryly. "That doesn't really matter does it?" She sat up, weakly pulling her clothes on with numb, stiff fingers. "And you're even related to me…"

"You're a Sohma?" He asked curiously.

She nodded slowly. "Nice to meet you." Ignoring the striking pain in her lower back, she stood stiffly and walked away at a slow pace. She paused halfway up the stairs, turning to face him. "Thanks for not doing anything…"

-X-

"No!" Naomi groaned, staring down at the test results in her hands in horror. "This can't be right!"

"What does it say?" Saiki asked, looking over her shoulder. His eyes widened when he read the print.

"I can't get pregnant!" Naomi clutched at her head. "I'm too young! I'm only sixteen!" She lowered her head to rest it on her knees in agony.

She sat in a couch in the lobby of a medical clinic downtown, sitting with Sohma Saiki, the young man that had stayed with her after that night. Young children played in their area with clichéd toys and conversing happily while their parents were being examined. Naomi raised her head to glare at them.

"I can't be a parent," she whispered, "my parents would kick me out."

Saiki took her hand comfortingly. "I'll help you through it, okay?" He promised. "It will be okay."

-X-

_Saiki-kun, how is this okay?_

"Sohma-sama?" The doctor asked. "Won't you hold your child?"

Naomi shook her head, sobbing relentlessly. Her child had been born two months premature, and being from the 'inside' of the Sohma estate, she knew perfectly well what that meant. A slight fuzz of orange hair covered the top of his head, and that fact only disturbed her, more.

There was no possible way that hair that color could belong to any animal.

It could only be a sign of the fox, for the cat had already been born a few months earlier.

"So how is the baby? Saiki asked, opening the door of the hospital door, eyes widening in surprise when he noticed Naomi in hysterics.

"It's…it's not…human!" She sobbed, ignoring the way that the doctor stared at her in confusion.

Saiki quickly took the infant from the doctor, staring down at it, the orange hair, and the teary cyan eyes… he gasped loudly. "This isn't…?"

Naomi nodded in misery.

Saiki bit his lower lip, at loss of anything to say. "It will be okay," he assured, though it didn't sound like he meant it. "It will be okay."

-X-

Naomi stared down at the five-year-old child, the half-black and half-white hair, the wide cyan eyes, and then she directed her gaze to her hand, still hanging in the air. She had just hit her child. When she was younger, she had always told people that she aspired to be a kind, loving mother.

Her eyes narrowed grimly. With the fox, it didn't seem to apply.

"K…Kaiju," she stammered, beginning to laugh evilly at his horrified expression. "KAIJU! KAIJU!"

She began to lose control of herself, the mad laughter never ceasing as she began to throw everything in reach. Laughing even harder when the projectiles made contact, stopping to clutch at her aching ribcages when tears began to spill from his eyes. She smiled in a motherly manner, leaning in to smile at him kindly.

"Are you scared?" She asked, not waiting for a reply. "I'm scared, too."

He looked up at her in confusion, and she felt the kind smile split into a more insane kind of grin.

"I'm scared because of you," she told him simply. The smile slipped from her face, and she threw a nearby plate, growing more infuriated as he shrunk away and it instead collided with the wall, shattering as it fell to the tile floor. "I'm scared because of you! Because you were born, because you burden me with your existence! Why do you make things painful for Saiki-kun and I? Why do you always cry? _Don't be so damn weak!_"

_I couldn't stop myself. I truly loathed this child, and I wanted him to know that. I wanted to burn him with that knowledge, to beat him until he bled and knew just how unnecessary he was. _

_I wanted him to __**die**__._

-X-

Naomi stirred slightly from her sleeping position beside Saiki, opening her eyes sleepily to stare into a bright cyan pair on an ashen, murderous face. She sat up quickly. "Kaiju!" She shouted in alarm.

"Okaa-san," he whispered, a sadistic smile creeping across his lips. "I'm doing this because of what you did to me."

-X-

"Should we call someone?"

Ichigo's eyes opened slowly, and he blinked twice in order to focus his vision. Tohru was staring down at him with a worried expression, holding a damp cloth in midair.

Ichigo's eyes widened and he quickly sat up, bringing a hand to his face and feeling a sinking relief in feeling that it was dry, yet most likely the tear-streaks hadn't faded yet.

"Ichigo-san, please lie down," Tohru requested parentally.

"No. I'm leaving." Ichigo muttered and stood awkwardly, closing his eyes at the spinning that came as a result of the sudden movement.

Tohru watched as he stumbled out the door, and the running footsteps that followed announced his leave. She sighed worriedly and turned to Kyo, who leaned lazily against the wall. "Kyo-kun," she murmured. "What's wrong with this generation?"

-X-

"_I was told…"_

Sora stared through the glass of the window, edited slightly by the netting between the two panes, at the sky beyond it. The sky was a flawless azure, robbed of clouds, rays of light catching on the leaves of trees directly beneath where the sun currently hung in the sky, setting their leaves ablaze with the brightness. It was a pretty sky, Sora thought as he sighed shortly, stepping closer to the window as though he would be able to see more of the sky.

"…_that it's far more painful…"_

Though there was something in that endless firmament-like display that unnerved him to some extent, as though he were seeing it for the last time. It was a slightly painful feeling, as though he knew he would never be able to find himself in that sky anymore, as though he'd wasted the time he'd had possessed…

"…_to be relieved of an Outsider's curse…"_

His eyes widened in horror.

"…_than that of the Juunishi." Hatori commented, gazing blankly at a worried Tohru, staring at her feet and biting her lip slightly._

"_Hatori-san," Tohru spoke up finally. "Isn't it much better if they aren't cursed? Wouldn't they be happier?"_

_Hatori grimaced slightly. "In addition, it's worse if they're free—the pain of parting, because their 'god' is a member of their own group, is worse than staying as they are—cursed. The pain is different for different animals, the wolf, god; being the most painful, though it does vary…"_

Something broke.

Sora gasped, falling to his knees and covering his ears with his hands, teeth gritted as his fingernails dug into his scalp. Something was ebbing, fading away, though he couldn't exactly name what it was. He felt his eyes stinging with tears as a clawing emptiness formed within him. Eyes flying open, widened and pupils dilated in fear, his hands went around his throat as breathing became difficult.

Somewhere in a corner of his mind he realized what had happened, why he'd felt uneasy looking at the sky.

His curse was gone.

As a last resort, he forced his eyes shut, burying his face in his hands.

"I DON'T WANT THIS!"

-X-

Kazashi stared listlessly at the familiar scenery while tourists fluttered about, taking pictures of the hillside, green grass beginning to transcend into yellowed leaves, raked with trees, leaves glowing in the setting sun.

"Ah!" A girl gasped, staring at a nearby tree. "Kitsune-san!" (2)

Kazashi's eyes widened slightly yet then reverted back to their bored, half-lidded earlier appearance. She waited for the fox to eagerly run toward her, yet its gaze only rested on her face for a second before it turned swiftly and stepped away.

Her eyes widened, eyebrows furrowed in shock and incomprehension. She stepped away from the tree she leaned against to follow after the Kitsune, watching its white-tipped tail disappear behind another tree.

"Oi, miss, you shouldn't chase after the foxes!" A nearby woman warned.

Kazashi ignored her, setting a frenzied pace after the fox that was now sprinting away, though her possession as that particular animal gave her the equal swiftness and agility. The fox stopped dead, Kazashi following, and it turned to face her.

Kazashi sighed in relief, tilting her head to the side slightly at the fox.

"Gomen ne," The fox tilted its head to the side

Her eyes widened again. The fox's eyes were apologetic.

"But it's time for me to go, now. I can't stay with you." (3)

Kazashi fell numbly to her knees, heart rate increasing rapidly. She reached out a hand to touch the fox as though to bring it close and force it to come back, though it only ran off into the forest. Breathing heavily, she dug her fingernails into the grass, trying to avoid causing a scene.

But the pain was immense, and she felt herself falling victim to it.

"DON'T LEAVE!" She shrieked, fingers extending in spreading apart, fingernails now caked with dirt. "COME BACK! DON'T LEAVE ME!"

"What's wrong with that woman?" A young girl asked her mother, pointing to the white-haired girl.

"Let's go." Her mother muttered in disapproval.

_It's a shameless act, isn't it? _She mentally smiled though in reality her teeth were clenched to the point of breaking, tears falling like raindrops. _I don't want them to look at this humiliation. I don't want them to see me break like this._

"…Oitekanaide…" (4) She whispered. "OITEKANAIDE!"

-X-

Etsu smiled bleakly, sitting with her knees to her chest and back against a cold white wall, leaning her head back as tears began to roll down her face.

_Parting is sad, isn't it? _

-X-

"It seems as though the previous Outsiders' curses have been relieved," Akira reported grimly, leaning on the table with his face cupped in his hand, bored eyes staring blankly ahead at the flickering candlelight that illuminated the room though night had fallen.

"Ah, really?" A girl's voice, slightly high in pitch and with a whiney tone as though she had wished for it to be continued asked. "What a shame."

"And you," Akira murmured. "We can't keep you hidden from everyone forever. Having you here is beginning to annoy me."

"Then put me in a back room or something," the voice suggested lightly. "I don't really mind. I'm only waiting for the right opportunity to, oh, how should I say this…?" her voice trailed off. "Strike." She finished maliciously.

"You've gone mad," Akira muttered in distaste.

"Oh, not quite," the smirk was audible in her statement, and the owner of the voice tilted her head back, smiling sadistically. "Omoshiroi," (5) she commented. Her eyes flashed. "So, who are the people of this new generation? I hardly knew that of the last."

Akira smirked bleakly. "I'm old fashioned, and many of the same deals and customs set for the last zodiac exist for me."

"You're locking up the cat if he can't beat the rat?" She asked, interested.

Akira nodded once.

"Aaah," she sighed, smiling the same dark smile. "I'm interested to see how this turns out." The smile slipped from her face. "There is one other monster that I'm interested in, though."

Akira glanced over at her, attention caught.

"Akira-san, I believe you know which one." She crossed her legs impatiently. "Fine. I'll show myself after this many years of hiding. It kind of feels like losing." She stepped down from the windowsill where she sat to lean against it, instead. "After all, I do still have a few secrets that I'm not ready to tell."

The lamplight caught her face, revealing waist-length locks of pure white hair and grim, maddened charcoal eyes. Her skin was a pale, ashen white, and she was glaring now, flames casting eerie shadows across her face.

"There is one person," she whispered. "That I am most certainly _interested_ in seeing."

* * *

A/N: YES! I got it done in under a month! Too bad it's short…oh well.

1. This is a Fred - from Youtube - reference. Anyone who knows me will tell you that I do that a lot.

2. Kitsune means fox, and adding 'san' may or may not be normal. Who knows?

3. Takaya-sensei explained that "they can communicate with their animal", so the fox explaining it was leaving was kind of a parting word.

4. "Don't abandon me."

5. Fun, interesting.

I didn't forget to define things! I'm so proud of myself.

I think that with the description I gave away who the person is. Oh well—I hope it at least comes as even a bit of a surprise when I properly introduce her.


	13. Chapter 12

A/N: I once said that Sono isn't bitchy.

I take that back. XDD

I seem to have a newfound habit of describing the Outsiders' parents' lives.

Oh well.

Forgive me, for Chion has horrible language. Ami does, too. They're both just bad influences, and I like them that way.

(But I have bad language, and am a bad influence, as well…)

You might have guessed it, but Chion is my favorite. Heh.

Vengeful is such an angst fest…mommy is very happy…hahaaa…

* * *

The last feigning outbursts of summer transcended into martyrdom, leaves yellowing and departing from their hosts to fall to the ground below, the smell of burning leaves present in the air from the cooking of traditional foods, warm autumn winds sweeping through the open back door of Akira's favorite room.

"You," he murmured, leaning against the shoji door. "You're still here?"

A white haired girl, looking to be around seventeen or eighteen looked up at him, upside down from where she lie on her back on the floor, feet raised to rest against the wall. She sighed and flipped over, propping herself up on her elbows.

"I want to go somewhere," she complained, "it's boring, here."

"Then go stay with someone who doesn't live in the main house for a while—and stop coming to visit me at your leisure."

She frowned slightly. "Fine, then. Whom can I stay with?"

Akira sat up slightly straighter, drawing his kimono tighter around his lithe frame. "There's a house," he murmured. "In the forest not too far from here…"

She blinked twice. "Are there Sohma people there? Possessed ones?"

"The dog, the rat, the cat, and the trigger." Akira smirked.

The girl stood, going in the direction of the doorway. She stopped, about to slide it open, and turned to face Akira on the other side of the room. "I'll go," she accepted. "It sounds interesting."

-X-

"Do we have a visitor?" Yukio asked, sliding open the door to the main room.

Kyo, who sat at the low table, turned rapidly, glaring. "Does it matter, you damn rat?"

Yukio gave no indication of having heard him, dropping his school bag and stepping into the room. There was a girl, presumably in her late teens, sitting at the table, head lowered though she had glanced up with bleak, charcoal-colored eyes. She glanced up again timidly before raising her head.

"Will you introduce yourself?" Satoru asked expectantly.

"Oh, um, yes…" she stammered shyly. "I'm Sohma Tera…I mainly spend my time with Akira-san, so I never get to spend much time with the zodiac…"

"Are you in the Juunishi?" Sen asked, tilting her head to the side slightly.

"Well, not really…you see, I'm the fox…"

"That's not—!" Kyo began, yet was silenced by a scathing look from Satoru that explained that he was aware of the lie.

"Tera?" Satoru asked in a slightly exaggerated voice. "That's quite uncommon. How do you spell it?"

"With the kanji for _hand_," Tera smirked morbidly. "And then one kana. But more importantly," she paused to move in order to sling herself across Sen's crossed legs, shoulders resting on her knees and head tilted back. "Won't you cure me?" She asked in a sickly sweet voice.

"Ano…" Sen started, awkwardly staring down in surprise at the girl. "What do you mean by that?"

Satoru cocked his head in her direction, glaring darkly. Tera smirked up at Sen, raising a hand to trace her jaw line absentmindedly, a malicious glint to her eyes. She sat up slowly after a few minutes, pacing to the other side of the room to stare out of the window there, still smirking in a strangely triumphant manner.

"Oh," she began, "there is so much that I need to be released from."

-X-

"What?" Kyo and Yukio asked in confusion.

It was past midnight, Sen and Tera asleep—it had been decided for them to share a room, seeing as the rest of the rooms in the house were filled, and it would be "impolite" to make a guest that would be staying with them for quite a while sleep on a futon in the living room.

"You heard." Satoru muttered in a bored tone.

"Don't you think you're being paranoid?" Yukio asked.

Satoru shook his head once, jaw cupped in his hand and eyes staring blankly over their shoulders out the window behind them. "Not really. Tera-san acts as though Sen knows that she's the trigger. When she finds out that Sen doesn't really know, she'll most likely tell her."

"So we just don't let her find out that she doesn't know." Kyo shrugged.

Satoru shook his head again. "She'll find out some way or another. She's too sharp for her own good."

"I've seen her at the main house before," Yukio spoke up. Satoru's gaze shifted to him.

"I saw her with Akira-san, and she's always looked the same. She claims she's the fox, but the new fox has already been born and there's no way that she could be new—even Ami and Chion say that they've seen her like that when they were children."

Satoru's eyes widened. "So you're saying…?"

Kyo brought his fist down onto the table. "Well damn!" He cursed. "What are we supposed to do? We're living with someone who's damn sure to figure it out and tell her, but we can't let her tell her. What are we supposed to do? Follow her around and make sure that that bitch doesn't say anything?"

Satoru sighed. "If she finds out, it will be bad. She's not supposed to know—why do you think we never told her?

"What's wrong with knowing?" Kyo complained.

"She'd fall apart from the guilt." Yukio explained simply. "Finding out that you were born in order to die to relieve people from a curse would be painful. I think it goes without saying that Hirotani-san cares for all of us as though we're family, so if she ever found out that her being alive is hurting us, it would kill her."

Satoru nodded. "And she already has enough pain in her life—I would hate to make it any worse."

"You don't trust me at all," a voice murmured.

The three turned rapidly to see Tera standing in the doorway, delicate fingers resting on the frame, lithe frame flattered by the black silken slip she wore. She crossed her arms over her chest, leaning on the doorframe.

"How much did you hear?" Kyo demanded.

"Enough." She replied shortly, eyes flashing. "I'm not stupid—I know that the trigger isn't supposed to know of her place."

"Then what was that today?" Kyo argued. "You asked her to cure you."

"She doesn't have to understand it." Tera scoffed.

"If you don't say anything other than that, she'll begin to wonder." Yukio pointed out.

Tera glared slightly. "She'll never be able to guess it alone."

"You nearly gave it away." Kyo growled.

Tera smiled reassuringly. "I'll make sure that she doesn't find out. I've kept myself a secret for so long—lying only comes naturally, now. Don't worry, I'm on your side."

-X-

"So that's the owl?"

"Disgraceful."

"Poor Kahoru-san and Shiro-san."

"They were young and free, too."

Kahoru hung her head, resting against her husband's shoulder. Her long, ebony bangs hung in her deep hazel eyes that were currently half lidded. She was petite though frighteningly thin, hair also thin and skin rather sallow. She held an unhealthy, weak glow, seeming small and helpless in the crowd of Sohma maids that discussed loudly without bothering to lower their voices.

Shiro, a tall man that held the same composition as his wife, held her hand comfortingly, deep brown locks falling forward as he, too, lowered his head.

"Shiro-kun," Kahoru whispered. "What's so wrong with him?"

Shiro shook his head, unable to provide an answer.

"It's so disgusting. Lower than the measly cat."

"From the state of her, I'm surprised that Kahoru-san wasn't killed from the birth."

"But the child was small, and she was able to survive."

"What a shame."

Shiro stood, taking his wife's hands and helping her up. With the help of a walking stick leaning against the wall, she paced to the center of the small room where the maids were gossiping and picked up her son, turning to face the maids.

"What's wrong with him?" She asked in a scratchy, weak voice. "His possession doesn't matter to me. He's still my son. He's still my Sora. Shiro-kun and I have been pathetic as we are for such a long time. Our Sora, our sky…why do you hate him?"

The maids stared, speechless, as she turned slowly, hands trembling as they always did as she gripped the walking stick slightly tighter, exiting the room.

"…Filth." One muttered.

-X-

Kahoru's hands shook violently as she emptied the number of pills into her hand, dropping them into her mouth and swallowing with effort, gripping the countertop as she waited for the pills to take effect. She sunk into a sitting position with her back against the cabinet, leaning her head back.

"Help," she whispered pathetically, a pale hand reaching up for the bottle. Her fingers felt around numbly for the bottle, twitching when her hand came into contact with the plastic and knocking the bottle to the floor, pills scattering.

Breathing heavily, she picked up a few that had landed on her legs and forced them down her throat, shaking increasing as brought her legs up to press tightly against her chest, allowing tears to stream down at the pain and weakness in her muscles.

"Okaa-san?" A child's voice asked in horror.

She didn't look up, yet smiled bleakly. "I'm sorry, Sora," she whispered hoarsely. "My disease is always causing problems for you…"

"Kahoru!" Shiro exclaimed, throwing open the door of the kitchen. Sora stepped aside, eyes wide, as his father rushed to help Kahoru, looking around at the scattered pills. "How many did you take?" he demanded, shaking her slightly when she didn't answer.

"I don't know," she replied hopelessly.

"You're only supposed to take two every eight hours!" Shiro scolded. "How many did you take?"

"I don't know," she repeated, eyes closing slowly.

Shiro's eyes widened in horror. "Kahoru!" he shouted, shaking her by her shoulders. "Kahoru!"

-X-

"It appears as though her Multiple Sclerosis is getting worse," a doctor reported grimly, setting down his clipboard on the countertop near him. "Having a child has probably worsened it, and the fact alone that she survived the birth is a miracle."

Shiro nodded grimly. "And Kahoru—how is she?"

The doctor sighed, fixing the position of his glasses. "She's struggling, but since the disease is newly developed, she still has years left to live. Her accidental overdose was probably because she wasn't used to having that kind of sensation, yet. Be careful, in these situations. She'll be easily frightened and most likely prone to hallucinations, so you have to try not to startle her."

-X-

"It's him." Shiro muttered, pacing back and forth with an angry stride. "It's that kid's fault."

Kahoru looked up slowly, leaning slightly, propped up by her elbows on the low table. "Don't say such things."

Shiro turned rapidly to face her. "Are you trying to say that him being alive is okay? He's the one that made your condition worse. If you'd never given birth to him, you would have longer to live!"

"That's selfish." Kahoru murmured.

"His entire being is selfish!" Shiro argued. "Our lives would be easier if he was dead."

"Even if he was never born," Kahoru hissed. "My condition would have worsened to this state of its own accord."

"Kahoru, he killed you." Shiro accused.

Kahoru stood weakly, turning away from him to exit the room down the long hallway. "I'm going to die, anyway."

-X-

Kahoru stared down at the piece of paper in her hands, reading over it for the third time, making sure that all that needed to be said was stated.

'Sora, I'm sorry for always being useless. I wish that it could have been some other way, but it looks like that's simply impossible. Please know that this is the only way I could make it up to you, while at the same time selfishly evading my own problems.'

She smiled grimly, setting the note down on the nightstand beside her bed. With shaking hands, she reached for the familiar bottle of pills, dumping the contents of the bottle into her hand and bringing it to her mouth.

-X-

"Seno?" Tera asked.

Sen looked up from her position at the low table. "Is there something wrong?"

"Not really," Tera shrugged, closing the shoji door behind her and sitting down at the side of the table opposite Sen. "Are we the only ones home?"

"Yes," Sen replied. "Satoru-kun had school things to do, Kyo is at his father's dojo, and Yukio-kun just left…"

"Okay," Tera shrugged again, staring down at the table.

"Um," Sen spoke up after a few minutes of the awkward silence.

Tera looked up expectantly.

"I'm staying with a friend tonight, I don't think you've met he—him." Sen quickly corrected, remembering Kaoru's false identity.

"Okay," Tera replied. She sat up straight, suddenly. "Let's go somewhere, okay?"

Sen blinked twice in surprise. "Sure."

-X-

The sunset marked the sea with orange, the surface of the water gleaming with the red-tinted light, pink and purple clouds marring the gradient sky. The air was fragrant with the smell of dead, fallen leaves and the salt of the sea, mixed with smoke from fires that were built by others occupying the beach.

"Why did we come here?" Sen asked curiously, watching the waves wash against the sand, dragging back shellfish from where they had been pushed, only to bring them back again in a repetitive cycle.

Tera looked away. "I have a few things to say." She replied finally.

Sen nodded. "Go ahead."

"Do you really know who I am, Seno? Everyone else seems to."

Sen blinked. "You're Tera-san, right?"

Tera shook her head. "No," she ran her fingers through the silky sand. "Let me start by saying a little about myself. I grew up in a small town not too far from here by the name of Minamizawa with my twin sister. We loved everyone, and everyone loved us. One day, we were informed of our parents' deaths and then sent to live in a childrens' home. It was horrible there. We tried to escape, but were only caught by a man we were forced to call Boss. He took us back to the center, and nearly killed us." Her voice trailed off and she turned her head to study Sen's shocked expression. "And then we were saved by the previous wolf. She was kind, and we'd been beginning to think that there was no kindness left in the world. There was another kind person, though…"

She was silent for a few seconds that drug on like hours.

"Yes, I remember him." She sighed. "Ichigo-kun was his name. I loved him, I really did. But I noticed one day that my twin, Kazashi was her name, was…hurt. I hated it, and I began to think that it was my fault. I attempted suicide, once."

"Why?" Sen gasped.

Tera smiled grimly, continuing as though she hadn't heard her. "She never came back for me, after that. Over time, as I hid from her, I only began to hate her. That's probably the only thing I lived—and live—off of. I was always hated in the main house. My sister, the second fox, was hated enough for being both an Outsider and a copy, but what did that make me? A _division_."

Tera glanced over at Sen. "And you. You're lower than I am."

Sen stared at her in confusion. "I'm not a Sohma."

Tera grimaced. "Lies. You've been sheltered and protected from knowing all that you are your entire life. I _hate_ that."

"What are you talking about?"

"Do you know your place, Seno?" Tera purred. "You're what they call 'The Trigger' in the main house. Oh, you're the most important member of the Juunishi."

Sen stared at her, eyes wide.

"Wondering why it's called the trigger?" Tera inquired. "I'll tell you—they say the curse is like a target, which is kind of a fun little joke." She grinned morbidly. "You live in order to die. Your being alive is killing everyone. The reason for the curse is because you're alive. If you had died at birth, no one would have been cursed except for those older than you, and even then most of them aren't that much older than you are, so they wouldn't have had to be cursed for very long. If you die, the curse is broken."

Sen wasn't looking at her anymore, instead she stared ahead at the ocean, eyes half lidded, clearly displaying her emotion. All traces of happiness behind the ice blue eyes were crumbling and decaying—taking it all in. Tera smirked.

"I hate happy people," Tera commented lightly. "They're all so stupid in the way that they believe that life will get better, life will get better, that it will be okay. Nothing is ever okay."

"So you're waiting for death?" Sen muttered in a dead voice.

"I have other things to do before I give up on living," Tera replied. "I have to see her—the one I hate. I want to put her through hell." She glanced at Sen again, noticing that she hadn't moved. "I don't need anyone. Everyone forgot about me, and I'd like to forget about them, even though it's impossible. People make me feel sick and weak. That's why I only stay with Akira-san. He understands that."

Tera remained silent for a few moments before standing. "People who were born in order to die should be told that." She turned away, exiting the beach.

Sen stared ahead, tuning out the conversations of others, staring into the waves, trying to find sense in Tera's words.

She was a part of the curse called the trigger, and when she died, the curse would be broken…

That would make her entire being alive selfish, to be stupidly enjoying life while she caused those around her pain. Things would be better if she were dead.

She watched the push and pull motion of the waves for a few more moments before standing weakly and trudging into the sea, walking out until she could no longer stand, swimming out further until her feet could no longer touch the bottom. Though her muscles ached in protest, she forced herself to swim further, until her means of going back accounted to zero.

The waves tore at her as though in a fierce game of tug-of-war, and she felt herself being pulled under. Cold, salty water burned at her throat and flooded her ears, the ebbing light fading the water around her into darkness. She shut and squinted her eyes at the stinging caused by the salt, steeling her body as though to hold herself under though the waves were doing that for her.

Her lungs burned for oxygen yet she denied herself of it, crossing her arms tightly over her chest and digging her fingernails into the skin of her upper arms to keep herself from flailing desperately for the surface. She grew lightheaded and dizzy, the constant battling motions of the waves making her feel sick as she felt herself begin to sink, letting go of her arms as she knew that there was no way to help her now.

As she felt her consciousness slipping away, a pair of cold arms wrapped themselves around her shoulders and something was pulling her away, though she was certain that it was only her imagination.

-X-

Sen's eyes flew open, burning at the salt that had bit at them before, and she squinted them shut, hurriedly flipping herself over and launching into a coughing fit, choking over the burning salt water that rushed to escape her body. She coughed again at the dryness and aching in her throat from the water, opening her eyes despite the pain to look around at her surroundings.

She found herself back on the beach, though thoroughly drenched, a familiar pushing and pulling sensation present though the waves were a few meters away, her body replaying the feeling.

There was a man, looking to be in either his late teens or early twenties, leaning against a nearby hill of sand, grass appearing in green-tainted spots across it. His hair was jaw length, cut in choppy layers and a deep chestnut in color, bangs long, overgrown, and hanging messily in his equally colored eyes. He glanced over at her.

"You're alive,"

"You're…Chion-san," Sen rasped, her voice an unimpressive and painful-sounding whisper.

"It would probably be better if you didn't try to speak too much," he muttered, "you swallowed a lot of water. I thought you were dead, for a minute." The deep brown eyes were glaring, now.

He leaned his head back against the hill, reaching for a pack of cigarettes beside him. He lit one casually, bringing it to his lips, exhaling light gray smoke. "What were you trying to do?"

"Is it true?" Sen asked, voice beginning to clear, though it still hurt to speak. She grimaced mentally at the noticeable hollowness in her voice.

Chion glanced over, attention caught.

"I was told that I'm the trigger…is it true?"

His eyes widened. "Where did you hear that?"

Sen was silent for a moment. "It doesn't matter who said it to me." She murmured coolly. "I'm just asking if it's true. Don't lie—I already know."

Chion remained tense for a moment before relaxing and sighing shortly, the smoke coming out in a puff. "I guess I shouldn't lie in this situation." He sighed again. "There's not much to say if you do know—we couldn't keep it from you forever."

Sen waited expectantly.

"I don't know how much you know about it, but you probably know about the dying part since, as far as what I've seen, you just tried to kill yourself."

Sen's eyes widened in horror. "That wasn't it." She denied. "It was…I wasn't thinking…"

"It's already over, it doesn't matter." Chion muttered. "Living in the past just fucks up your present, and you've never got enough time for that, because the present ends as soon as it begins. It doesn't matter."

Sen nodded contradictorily.

Chion leaned his head back again, staring at the deep purple abyss, the sky having not fully transcended into night, yet. "Even if you are the trigger, or whatever you want to call it, we don't care. We'd rather be cursed than have you trying to kill yourself. When you first went to Satoru's house, we were happy about you being with us _because_ you're the trigger. Of course we couldn't tell you that, but the happiness was still there. We should hate you if you think of it logically, but when it comes to logic our entire system is just like: fuck that.

"You're not taking the place of that Honda chick. You're more important. Do you get it, now?"

Sen nodded again.

Chion stared silently for a moment before leaning forward and forcibly separating her lips with his index fingers in a stupid kind of exaggerated "smile."

"Look happy," he muttered. "If they know that you found out, they'll erase your memories."

"And what about you?" Sen asked. "You're not going to tell anyone that I know, will you?"

"Ami already knows," Chion shrugged.

Sen gaped at him.

He rolled his eyes. "She was the one that saw you go in. She had to drag you out, but she transformed and had to run off somewhere. I assume she heard us, though."

Sen frowned in incomprehension. "We're both female. How did she transform?"

"This generation is fucked up." Chion commented. "I think Satoru told you that. We can transform if hugged by a member of the opposite sex as well as one of the same sex. Same-sex transformation doesn't always happen, but sometimes it does. We have to be more careful when the curse is more constricting."

"That was horrible—some kids nearly saw me!" Ami groaned, swinging her legs over the hill and hurtling down into a swift landing inches away from Chion.

"Did you hear it?" Sen asked sheepishly, not meeting Ami's emerald gaze.

Ami sighed, taking a cigarette and the lighter from Chion, lighting one and inhaling deeply. "Yeah," the smoke was exhaled through her words. "And you're blaming yourself too much, Sen."

"I said that already." Chion muttered.

"Usotsuki!" Ami accused. ("Liar!")

Sen laughed darkly under her breath, causing Ami and Chion to glance over at her.

"Dry drowning?" Ami gasped overdramatically, jumping back rapidly and bumping into Chion.

"I was just thinking that you two are like my parents in this faux family." Sen shrugged.

Ami gasped again, holding her cigarette between her index and middle fingers, pointing it at her threateningly. "I didn't give birth to anyone at seven, so you can forget about that!" Her eyes widened in mock horror. "CHION! You deflowered me at seven and we gave birth to a child?"

"You were legal when that happened."

"Don't verbally grind out Sen's virginity." Ami muttered.

Sen smiled, a slightly bleak action. "Okay," she agreed. Ami and Chion glanced over at her again. "I can't guarantee you that I'm entirely fine, but for the time being…I'll hide it."

-X-

"Akira-san, I've returned." Tera announced sliding the door open. Akira glanced over at her from his position of sitting on the windowsill.

"You didn't stay very long." He hissed.

"I didn't have to," she smirked. "I told her what I wanted to and left as soon as possible. They'll notice that I'm not there, but the won't be able to find me."

"What did you tell her?" Akira jumped down from the windowsill, tone furious.

"Necessary things." Tera shrugged. "By tomorrow morning, I will be gone from the main house, as well. I may not return for a while. I have things to do." She smirked morbidly at Akira.

"What kind of things?" Akira asked, eyes flashing.

"I want to find my twin, my Kazashi," Tera whispered. "And kill her."

"Your actions are always so insane," Akira hissed. "Are you trying to drag the Sohma name through the mud?"

"I never said that anyone would ever know." Tera replied. "And as for you—it's about time that you met _Seno_, don't you think?"

Akira met her eyes uninterestedly. "I suppose."

-X-

A Chibi version of Sono coughed once theatrically, readjusting the position of her rectangular glasses and staring blankly into the camera. She sat at a long, metal desk in front of a projector screen. "Since Vengeful is such an angst fest, Malicious Words and Happiness-san has decided to present to you: The Totally RADICAL Extra."

"I don't get it." Kyo hissed. "You all call her Sono-san like she's special or something." He paced, hands plunged into his pockets, across the living room.

Sono and Kotone stared uninterestedly, Sono sporting a pair of rectangular glasses that Kotone would occasionally glance and snicker at.

"If you don't like it, just call me Sono." Sono shrugged.

"Yeah, but everyone else calls you 'Sono-san'! What is _with_ that?" Kyo complained.

"Kotone doesn't call me Sono-san."

"YEAH, AND SHE'S LIKE THE ONLY ONE!" Kyo shot back. "Damn it! Even that damn rat probably calls her 'san'…"

"Yukio-kun calls everyone 'san'." Sono corrected.

"He started it!" Kyo gasped in realization.

"Not exactly." Kotone muttered. "And you're really obsessed with him."

"Like I said, if you have a problem with it, call me Sono."

"I never called you 'Sono-san' to begin with!" Kyo argued. "I just call you 'you'!"

"So?"

"SO, I'm not gonna treat you with any respect. You don't deserve it." Kyo huffed stubbornly. He turned to smirk evilly at her. "Sono."

"It's Sono-_san_." Sono hissed satanically with a glare that could kill.

"And that's how 'Sono-san' came to be." Kotone announced.

In front of the projector screen once more, Sono blinked a few times. "And then there is this announcement:"

Chibi-Kotone appeared in a chair beside her. "Malicious Words and Happiness-san has noticed that in Kotone's apparent 'character song' there is a lyric that says: 'and I saw your blue eyes cry, and I held your face in my hands'." Kotone turned in her swivel chair, pointing to Sono. "And it so happens that the only character that Kotone really acknowledges that has blue eyes is Sono. This is not a hot Yuri lemon reference; it was a misjudging of lyrics. If it were to be a hot yuri lemon reference, it would sound like this:"

_"Are you ready?" Sono asked._

_"Y-yeah," Kotone stammered. "Just put it in."_

Sono fell to the ground overdramatically, entirely disturbed. "THAT WAS OUT-OF-CHARACTER! I DON'T OWN A —_censored_—!"

"Thus," Kotone continued dully. "Malicious Words and Happiness-san has never written anything like that except for that example, so it is not a hot Yuri lemon reference in the slightest, and that notion only appeared in her perverted mind because she's too much of a scary yaoi fangirl, and probably needs to get pills for that or something."

"I do not!" Sono objected from the floor.

"Without further ado, please continue reading chapter twelve, and do not be too disturbed from this extra."

-X-

"Is it a bad day?" Sen asked Suzuki worriedly.

Suzuki looked away. "She hasn't been very responsive lately, but maybe your voice will get her to move…or at least do something…"

Suzuki stepped aside to let Sen enter the hospital room, turning away to sit on the bench outside the room.

Chiyo was motionless as ever, face having paled considerably, a sickly tinge of yellow to her skin.

"Your hair got longer," Sen analyzed. She sat down on the edge of the hospital bed, staring listlessly at the blue veins over her sister's hand, visible through the almost paper-like skin. Sen sighed. "I've learned a few upsetting things, Nee-san. I can't really say it aloud. It's only proof that living is selfish, if I try to complain. I just won't think about it."

Chiyo's eyelids fluttered for a second. Sen gasped loudly, reaching for the nurse button. Chiyo gave a small mumble in her unconsciousness and grew still again. Sen relaxed, settling back down.

"You always come so close to waking up, but then you never do…"

-X-

"Ah, Yukio,"

Yukio turned rapidly at the voice, noticing a willowy figure leaning on the wall next to the end of the stone stairway. His hair was an indigo-tinted black, mid-neck length, indigo eyes narrowed slightly. His skin was deathly pale, and he was dressed entirely in black.

Yukio took a step away in fear. "Akira…"

Akira crossed his arms over his chest. "It's been so long since I last saw you," he enunciated, tone slightly threatening. "You didn't see me at New Years, did you? So independent."

"I'm not going back to you." Yukio warned.

Akira's eyes flashed. "That sounds like something Ten would say."

Yukio's eyes widened further in horror. "Don't mention…her…"

"Why?" Akira asked simply. "Do you miss her? She's been gone for years, Yukio. Missing her now would only be nostalgic. I got rid of her because she didn't fit my likes. No one needed Ten." Akira glanced over at Yukio. "You look so frightened. But I'm not actually here for you. I'm here for Sen."

"Don't," Yukio refused. "I know what you'll tell her."

Akira was glaring now. "I never said anything like that. I just wanted to meet her. It appears as though most of my Juunishi has." He shrugged. "If I wanted to take you back, you would have to return to me. If I had to put you in that special room, just for another week, to reeducate you on your true purpose, you would have to go."

"Akira!"

Akira turned quickly to see Kotone and Sono appearing from the forest, Sono looking particularly furious.

"What were you doing?" Sono demanded.

"Nothing," Akira lied, turning away and disappearing into the forest.

"We didn't know he would be coming." Kotone glared after him. "Bastard."

-X-

"What happened?" Kyo asked as Sono pushed past him angrily, followed by an equally tempered Kotone.

"Nothing, kuso neko." They muttered in unison.

Yukio entered the house without bothering to announce his return, stepping past Kyo who glared after him. Sono turned to face Kyo, already having gone halfway into the living room.

"Don't do anything to him," She warned.

"And why not?" Kyo demanded. "I'm not going to give him an easy break because he's being depressive."

"He saw Akira." Sono shot back. Kyo's eyes widened.

"Akira was here?" He asked breathlessly.

Sono nodded, sliding open the shoji door to the living room. "Not like you ever gave a fuck about Yukio, anyway, but I'm only going to tell you that once. It's not a day that I'd like to be bothered with your idiocy."

Sono shut the door calmly despite her tone and attitude, and Kyo turned to the rat that had started to ascend the stairs. Kyo gritted his teeth and charged after him, grabbing the smaller male's wrist as he reached the top step, nearly tripping.

"What did Akira say?" Kyo demanded. "You're annoying me. I want to fight, damn it!"

Yukio shot Kyo a look of betrayal, tearing away from him. "Does it matter?"

"YES!" Kyo argued, following Yukio as he turned down the hallway toward his bedroom. "How the hell am I supposed to beat you if you're not going to fight back because you're getting all depressed all of a sudden?"

"I don't want your false pity."

Kyo's mouth fell open in disorientated shock. "W-WHAT?" He demanded furiously. "I'm not pitying you! What the hell is wrong with you? I'm just pissed because I can't fight you right now!"

Yukio paused with his hand on the doorknob, turning to glare daggers at the cat. "Fighting," he scoffed. "Is that it? Is that all I am—an opponent?"

"What were you expecting, kuso nezumi?" Kyo hissed. "I hate you. You hate me."

He glanced over at the rat before taking an uninterested step forward and clutching both of Yukio's wrists, slamming him against the door, pinning his hands above his head. Yukio stared at him in horror, attempting to flinch away.

"It's that easy." Kyo laughed darkly. "You're _pathetic_."

He released Yukio, who fell to the ground weakly. Kyo sighed in annoyance and entered his own room, slamming the door angrily behind him. He leaned against the door, thinking fast.

It had been that easy to pin him like that…and he could have easily beaten him right there, but it just wouldn't count. If the damn rat wasn't fighting back, it wasn't technically a matter of having been beaten. But there was the way that he had stared at him in fear, and the flush to his face…

Kyo smirked darkly to himself.

He knew how to beat Sohma Yukio.

-X-

"Akira-san?" Tera asked as Akira reentered the room. "Did you meet her?"

"No," Akira murmured in slight annoyance. "I was stopped by Yukio-kun. It was good to see him, though." He smirked. "Did you ever find your sister?

Tera shook her head in annoyance. "I'll be going to Minamizawa soon. I have a feeling that she might be there. Nostalgic, isn't it?"

"Kazashi has always been that way, hasn't she?" Akira mused. "She was never good enough to erase memories, only edit. And editing will eventually falter, and someday everyone she's ever erased you from will remember you…"

"...Azami."

-X-

A/N: It's shooooooooooort..._aaggoonnyy_...


	14. Announcement

Sorry, but the next chapter of Vengeful is going to be delayed

Sorry, but the next chapter of Vengeful is going to be delayed.

School started, and so I've got testing coming up, and I've gone through a great array of computer viruses and updates, which keeps messing up my Microsoft Word so I can't open anything, which really sucks, and I'm stressed, which is giving me a really huge amount of writer's block.

I'll update as soon as possible. Sorry, again.

Also, since I'm so very picky about it, chapter eight will probably have a few corrections done. Heh.

Right, so I guess that's it.

Like I said, I'll update when I can.

- その-さん


	15. The End

Vengeful is over.

Yep, that's right. I'm going to end it without finishing.

Why? I've got a few reasons.

1. I've lost interest.

2. The storyline sucked. Face it. You can tell I had no idea where I was going with it.

3. I was more interested in the characters than the story, which showed, too.

4. I'm working on other things that I hope to get published.

5. Overall, I don't really care for fan fiction writing anymore.

So, regardless of whether this will be read or not, I felt it necessary to elaborate why Vengeful isn't being updated, and why it won't be updated.

Now, to prove that I'm not joking, here is what was going to happen:

1. Yukio is really a girl, and so is Akira.

2. Kazashi is killed by Azami.

3. Sora dies because of the deal to die in one year.

4. Sen commits suicide and the curse is broken. In her note it says "This is supposed to be helpful. I'm leaving now." Or, ittekimasu. That's where the "iterasshai" spoiler comes in.

5. Chiyo wakes up.

SO, after I post this, I may or may not delete all of my other fan fictions.


End file.
